Departing autogyro collides with a landing SZD-51 at the threshold

A student on his first flight on an SZD-51-1 Junior was seriously injured and the glider destroyed when a departing MTOsport autogyro climbed into his path on final at Waldeck. Its rotor severed about half the right wing, and the glider rolled inverted and crashed; the autogyro was lightly damaged, its pilot unhurt. Neither saw the other in time: the autogyro started from a tree-screened spot off the approved area — blind to both — while the student was absorbed by the unfamiliar type. Ground supervision noticed the converging pair too late to warn. Cause: no adequate visual contact between the two.

1. First solo on a new type: A student pilot, on his first flight on the single-seat SZD-51-1 Junior, was aerotowed to about 1000 m at Waldeck to get familiar with the type, then set up to land on runway 19.
2. Attention on the unfamiliar type: On final the student fixed on the runway-19 touchdown point and concentrated on flying a safe landing in the type new to him; the touchdown point stayed clear to him until the collision.
3. Autogyro launching from a screened spot: An MTOsport autogyro was departing for Kassel-Calden from an unapproved area before the runway-19 threshold; trees screened it, in the glider's blind angle and hindering its own lookout.
4. No mutual visual contact: Neither pilot saw the other in time; the student radioed his position but recalled no acknowledgement, and the autogyro pilot heard no warning. The ground controller could not intervene.
5. Rotor severs the glider's wing: As the autogyro climbed (~2 m, ~100 km/h) it came up under and in front of the glider; at 3-4 m the glider's right wing entered the rotor disc and about half the wing was severed.
6. Glider inverted; both aircraft damaged: The glider rolled 90-120 degrees and struck the ground inverted, destroyed, with the student seriously injured. The autogyro rolled ~100 m and landed lightly damaged, its pilot uninjured.