Club Astir outlands into a ditch after losing orientation in the circuit

During an outlanding 1.7 km northwest of Bayreuth airfield, the pilot of a Grob G 102 Club Astir III b was seriously injured and the aircraft destroyed. The SPL trainee with 64 hours and 110 solo launches had not yet flown cross-country or outlanding training. After release from a winch launch at about 400 m AGL in weak thermals, the pilot flew a figure-8 north of the field, then lost orientation in the circuit. The instructor radioed to shorten the approach; the pilot instead outlanded on heading 315 deg and struck a stream-bordered ditch with 4 m deep banks. The fuselage broke at the seat back and the airbrakes retracted at impact.

1. Fly-camp winch launch at Bayreuth: Grob G 102 Club Astir III b (1982 build, SN 5554 CB, ~15 m wingspan, 260 kg empty, 380 kg MTOM, 2,190 h / 5,599 landings total) on a winch launch from Bayreuth (EDQD), RWY 24 (900 m grass). Operation: a North-Rhine-Westphalia gliding club running a fly-camp at Bayreuth — overall little flying that week due to rainy weather. VMC, variable wind to 5 kt, instructor reported 'almost no usable thermals'. Launch 12:28 local on the trainee's third flight at this airfield (a 6-minute orientation flight with an instructor on 30 Jul, then an 8-minute solo on 31 Jul, both on RWY 24).
2. Trainee, no outlanding training yet: Per BFU: all exercises from the first and second training phases were documented in the trainee's record. Per the supervising instructor, the trainee had not yet received the theoretical or practical instruction (third training phase) on cross-country flights and outlandings. Total time 64 h / 413 launches, of which 15 h / 110 launches solo. Class 2 medical valid (VML — corrective lenses).
3. Unfamiliar field, weak conditions: Bayreuth is a 5 km NE plateau airfield at 1,601 ft AMSL with terrain falling away to the NW (the accident site is 40 m below airfield level). The trainee was new to the field (general site briefing from a photo plus one 6-minute familiarization flight). Conditions on the day were poor for soaring — instructor: 'almost no usable thermals'.
4. Lost orientation in circuit: After release at ~400 m AGL, the trainee flew a full circle, then ~600 m north and completed a figure-8 with direction change, then ~500 m further north and another full circle. According to her own statement she had by then lost her orientation in the circuit.
5. Instructor radios shorter approach: The supervising instructor was in radio contact with the trainee and observed the glider was very low. Per the recorded radio: 'Du kannst die Landung auch abkürzen' ('you can also shorten your landing approach') — a suggestion to abbreviate the approach back to the airfield rather than fly the full circuit.
6. Pilot chooses to outland heading 315°: Rather than fly an abbreviated approach back to the airfield, the trainee elected to outland on a heading of 315° (NW), into descending agricultural terrain ~1.7 km NW of the airfield.
7. Ditch with 4 m banks in landing path: Landing path: ~10 m straight ground track through a cornfield, first ground touch on grass 15 m further on, second ground touch on grassland 15 m beyond that across an asphalted farm track. Immediately past the second touchdown was a ~4 m deep stream-bordered ditch (Gewässergraben) with steep banks; the glider struck the far (NW) bank with the nose. Airbrakes were retracted on impact (the lever found in its retracted position, freely movable post-accident).
8. Fuselage broken, pilot seriously injured: The fuselage broke into two pieces at the level of the seat back; canopy detached ~6 m from the nose; ailerons jammed; control rods bent. The wings + rear fuselage + tail remained intact and joined. No fire. Pilot seriously injured. BFU report ended at the facts stage without analysis or conclusions; safety message implicit in the noted gap between training phase reached and the outlanding decision faced.