L-Spatz 55 drops wing on winch roll, rolls to knife-edge and impacts

The pilot of an L-Spatz 55 was fatally injured during a winch launch at Sonderlandeplatz Oschatz and the glider was destroyed. Two earlier winch launches that day had been uneventful; the pilot's 12 minutes on type sat behind 954 hours of broader experience. Early in the ground roll the right wing dropped and the wingtip touched the ground. The glider veered right, pitched up to about 10 m, the bank steepened to a knife-edge, and the right wingtip struck the ground again 38 m beside the launch line. The nose then impacted in a strong right roll. No technical defects were found, leaving low experience on type as the load-bearing factor.

1. Winch launch r245° 14:21 LT: Around midday on 12 April 2015 the L-Spatz 55 was prepared for flight by its owner and a second pilot at Sonderlandeplatz Oschatz (EDOQ). The owner completed two uneventful winch launches at 13:38 and 14:02 LT. At 14:21 LT the other pilot began a winch launch from the glider strip heading 245°. Wind was 230° at 4 kt, visibility over 10 km; grass height in the launch area was about 3 cm.
2. 12 min on type, 954 h total: The pilot held a glider licence with winch and aerotow ratings and 954 hours total on gliders. He had flown only 12 minutes on the L-Spatz 55 from two prior launches; in the previous 90 days he had completed six glider launches for a total of 40 minutes. The day before the accident he had flown a refresher check with an instructor on a two-seater.
3. Right wing drops, ground contact: Shortly after the start of the ground roll witnesses saw the right wing tilt and the right wingtip touch the ground. In its takeoff attitude the L-Spatz 55's wingtip sits about 1.2 m above the surface.
4. Veers right, pitches up to ~10 m: Following the wingtip contact the glider veered slightly to the right and simultaneously pitched up. It lifted off and climbed to about 10 m above the ground while still on the winch cable.
5. Knife-edge, 2nd wingtip strike: Witnesses described that the bank angle then increased markedly to a knife-edge attitude (Messerfluglage). About 38 m beside the launch baseline and 42 m from the launch point, the right wingtip touched the ground a second time.
6. Strong right roll, nose impact: With a strong right rotation the nose of the aircraft struck the ground. The L-Spatz 55 came to rest inverted in the area of the powered-aircraft runway. The cabin was destroyed, the right wing broke at the middle, and the fuselage was twisted off behind the wings. The cable ring of the winch rope was found released, about 6 m from the wreckage. No technical defects were found, and the autopsy showed no impairment of the pilot's ability to act during the launch. The pilot died of his serious injuries in hospital.