LAK-19 steep winch climb, left bank, wing drop at 40 m

The pilot of a LAK-19 died on a winch launch from Metzingen (Germany); the aircraft was destroyed. The glider had launched at 16:15 LT from RWY 21 for a thermalling flight; the same winch and cable had been used without problem two hours earlier. After liftoff witnesses saw a steep climb attitude with an increasing left bank. At about 40 m height the glider abruptly tipped over the left wing and impacted the ground almost vertically with high nose-down pitch about 300 m from the launch point and 90 m left of the runway centerline. The pilot had over 100 flight hours but only about 13 on the LAK-19.

1. Winch launch RWY 21 for thermalling: At 16:15 the LAK-19 launched on the winch from RWY 21 at Metzingen for a thermalling flight, using the same Tost winch and 4.6 mm cable that had worked without problem two hours earlier.
2. Steep climb after liftoff: Immediately after liftoff witnesses observe the glider in an unusually steep climb attitude on the winch cable.
3. Left bank increasing: While in the steep climb the bank angle increases to the left as the glider continues to gain only little height.
4. Wing drop over left at ~40 m: At about 40 m above the ground the glider abruptly rolls off over the left wing — the classic low-energy departure from a steep winch climb.
5. Near-vertical impact 300 m from start: The glider struck the ground almost vertically nose-down, about 300 m from the launch point; the cockpit was destroyed and the tail twisted off. The pilot was fatally injured.