ASW 19 wing drop after steep climb on winch launch

The pilot of an ASW 19 was seriously injured on a winch launch at Koblenz-Winningen; glider destroyed. After a short ground roll the glider rotated into a steep climb attitude and at 10-20 m AGL dropped off over the left wing in a gusty quartering crosswind disturbed by a hedgerow. The wingtip struck the ground, the nose hit the asphalt runway, and the fuselage broke in the cockpit and at the tail boom as it slid into the safety strip. The owner reported a trim lever prone to snapping toward tail-heavy; a photo showed the radio ~8 cm out of its mount with the latch open. No technical defects were found; no probable cause was attributed.

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. The departure used the 1 000 m grass strip alongside the 06/24 asphalt runway. The pilot held ~484 h total with ~18 h on type.
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 that was being disturbed by a hedgerow upwind of the launch point. Cloud 6/8 at ~1 500 m AGL, visibility >10 km, 23 degrees C.
3. Loose radio and trim quirk: The owner had worked on the radio that morning. A post-accident photo from the airfield supervisor showed the radio displaced ~8 cm from its mounting tray with the retaining latch not closed. The owner also reported that the ASW 19's trim lever tended to release from its detent and snap toward the tail-heavy end.
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 contacted the ground at the northern edge of the asphalt runway 110 m past the launch point, swinging the nose left. The fuselage nose then struck the southern edge of the asphalt 141 m from launch, after which the wreck slid a further 25 m into the safety strip while rotating left. Fuselage breaks formed in the cockpit area and at the tail boom; the left wingtip was torn off.
7. Pilot seriously injured; destroyed: The pilot was seriously injured; the glider was destroyed. No technical defects were found on the wreck. The investigation was closed as a facts-only report and no probable cause was attributed.