Crash d'un ASH 25 lors d'un atterrissage de compétition près de Tomintoul, Écosse

Le 2 septembre 2007, un ASH 25 s'est écrasé près de Tomintoul, en Écosse, lors d'une compétition de vol à voile. Le pilote a tenté d'atterrir dans un champ mais s'est rendu compte que le planeur était trop haut et a effectué un virage pour perdre de l'altitude. Pendant la manœuvre, le planeur a décroché et s'est écrasé, entraînant un décès et une blessure grave. Le planeur a été détruit dans l'incident. Les conditions météorologiques comprenaient des turbulences, ce qui a pu contribuer à la difficulté de l'atterrissage.

1. Cross-country task: During a competition cross-country flight after aerotow, the ASH 25 was returning from Grantown-on-Spey toward the Tomintoul area with insufficient height to continue back to Aboyne.
2. Turbulent windy conditions: The approach area was affected by strong, gusty north-westerly winds and marked turbulence associated with local terrain and unstable air mass.
3. Low height near circuit: The pilots decided they were unlikely to gain enough height to return to Aboyne and committed to an outlanding near Tomintoul from relatively low altitude.
4. Too high on final: On final approach to the selected field east of Tomintoul, the pilot realised the glider was still too high and would overshoot toward houses beyond the field.
5. Height-loss maneuvers: To lose excess height the pilot used airbrakes, selected landing flap, side-slipped, and then retracted airbrakes and reduced flap before initiating a right orbit close to the ground.
6. Loss of control in turn: During the low-level right turn in turbulent conditions, at some point below about 230 ft agl, the glider departed controlled flight and entered a near-vertical dive.
7. Crash - fatal: The glider did not recover from the dive and impacted marshy ground east of Tomintoul, destroying the aircraft, fatally injuring the front-seat pilot and seriously injuring the rear-seat pilot.