LAK-17AT attempts engine start below flight-manual minimum altitude; crashes

The pilot of a LAK-17AT self-sustaining motor glider was killed when it entered a steep descending left turn during an engine-restart attempt after a winch launch at Mannheim; aircraft destroyed. After release at ~300–350 m AGL the pilot extended the sustainer engine and made two start attempts; the tower observed the airbrakes were also extended. About a minute after release the motor glider entered a steep left turn with high pitch-down and crashed onto a harvested field ~1 km east of the airfield. The flight manual specifies engine extension/start at a minimum of 400 m AGL, with +2 flaps and at least 8–10 km/h above stall. No fire.

1. Winch launch climb: The self-sustaining LAK-17AT motor glider (15 m span, max TOM 500 kg) launched by winch at 10:43 from Mannheim City, runway 09, in good visibility and light wind.
2. Engine extended after release: Witnesses saw that immediately after the cable release the pilot extended the sustainer engine to start it; the tower controller noted the airbrakes were also deployed during the extension.
3. Two start attempts: A witness reported two start attempts after cable release. The LAK-17AT has no starter — the propeller is wind-milled by diving, and the engine runs at full RPM only, with no throttle.
4. Below FM minimum start altitude: The flight manual required engine extension at a minimum of 400 m AGL over landable terrain; the motor glider extended its engine at only about 300-350 m AGL, below that minimum.
5. FM warnings on extension/start: The manual required flaps at +2 and 90-110 km/h, at least 8-10 km/h above stall, for extension; with the engine extended but not running, sink rate at 90 km/h reached 1.8 m/s.
6. Steep left turn, nose-down: About one minute after cable release the motor glider entered a steep left turn with a high nose-down pitch attitude.
7. Crash - fatal: The LAK-17AT struck a harvested field about 1 km east of the airfield in a steep, banked nose-down attitude, leaving a crater about 100 cm across. The pilot was fatally injured.