ASW 19 wing drop after steep climb on winch launch

The pilot of an ASW 19 was seriously injured and the glider destroyed on a winch launch at Koblenz-Winningen. After a short ground roll the glider rotated into a steep climb and, at 10-20 m in a gusty quartering crosswind stirred by a hedgerow, dropped off over the left wing — too low to recover. The left wingtip struck the ground, the nose hit the asphalt runway, and the fuselage broke at the cockpit and tail boom as the wreck slid into the safety strip. Mass and CG were in limits and no technical defect was found; the facts-only investigation attributed no cause.

1. Winch launch from grass strip: An ASW 19 took off in a winch launch at Koblenz-Winningen on the pilot's fourth flight of the day, using the 1 000 m grass strip alongside the 06/24 asphalt runway.
2. Gusty crosswind off hedgerow: Surface wind was from 330 degrees at ~11-19 km/h, gusty, giving a ~90-degree crosswind from the right disturbed by a hedgerow upwind of the launch point.
3. Loose radio and trim quirk: The owner had worked on the radio that morning; a photo showed it displaced ~8 cm from its mounting tray, latch not closed. The trim lever reportedly tended to release from its detent.
4. Steep climb after short ground roll: Witnesses saw the glider rotate into a steep nose-up attitude shortly after the wheels left the ground, while still at low altitude under winch tension.
5. Wing drop at 10-20 m AGL: At 10-20 m AGL the glider dropped off over the left wing. The departure occurred too low for any recovery before ground contact.
6. Wingtip then nose strike runway: The left wingtip struck the runway's northern edge 110 m past launch, swinging the nose left; the fuselage struck the southern edge 141 m on, and the wreck slid 25 m further, breaking apart.
7. Pilot seriously injured; destroyed: The pilot was seriously injured; the glider was destroyed. No technical defects were found on the wreck, and no probable cause was attributed.