LS 4-a steep dive from low-altitude circling; impact in meadow

The pilot of an LS 4-a was killed in a meadow south of Nieder-Werbe (Germany) and the aircraft was destroyed. The glider had launched on a winch tow from Iserlohn-Sümmern (EDKI) for a cross-country flight. After about two hours, witnesses saw it transition abruptly from low-altitude circling into a very steep nose-down flight path. Impact marks showed a high pitch angle and high speed at ground contact, with wreckage scattered across a 40 m debris field. Onboard avionics were too damaged to recover flight data and no medical cause was established; the cause of the sudden departure from controlled flight could not be determined.

1. Winch launch + XC, then low circling: At 14:35 LT the LS 4-a launches on a winch tow from Iserlohn-Sümmern (EDKI) for a cross-country flight. After about two hours and ten minutes of flight, witnesses near Nieder-Werbe see the glider at low altitude in circling flight.
2. Abrupt circling-to-dive transition: While in low-altitude circling flight near Nieder-Werbe, the glider transitions abruptly into a very steep nose-down flight path.
3. Steep high-speed descent, no recovery: The glider continues in the very steep, high-speed descent; no recovery is observed before ground contact.
4. High-speed impact in meadow: The glider impacts a meadow about south of Nieder-Werbe. The dimensions and depth of the ground marks show a high pitch angle and high speed at impact. The wreckage lies in a debris field of about 40 m. The aircraft is destroyed and the pilot is fatally injured.
5. Avionics unreadable; no medical cause: The on-board avionics components recovered from the wreckage are so badly destroyed that flight-data readout is not possible. The autopsy attributes death to impact injuries and finds no indication of an underlying medical cause; no third-party involvement is found.