ASW 24B stalls in low steep base turn during approach

The pilot of an ASW 24B was fatally injured after stalling in a steep base-to-final turn at low altitude on return from a local thermal flight; the glider fell into forest ~400 m short, aircraft destroyed. Returning as thermals weakened, the pilot started the pattern abeam at ~90 m AGL onto runway 040° against a gusty 12-22 kt 090° crosswind. A shortened base in tailwind carried him SW past the runway line, and the steep right base-to-final turn back, at his already-low airspeed, stalled the glider too low to recover. Cause: stall at low altitude, no recovery margin; misjudged wind on landing setup contributed.

1. Return from local thermal flight: The pilot launched at 16:20 LT by winch from Oerlinghausen for a local thermal flight; as thermals weakened he returned for landing in a gusty crosswind.
2. Pattern start at ~90 m AGL: Pilot began his landing pattern abeam the runway at only ~90 m AGL — already low for the geometry — and flew a shortened crosswind/base leg into final.
3. Tailwind drift; slow airspeed: On the shortened base leg the tailwind carried the glider southwest past the runway centerline over the forest, at noticeably low airspeed after misjudging the wind on the landing setup.
4. Steep base-to-final turn; stall: To reach the runway from his drifted position, the pilot made a steep right turn onto final; the bank raised the stall speed above his already-low airspeed, and the glider dropped a wing.
5. Forest impact; pilot died in hospital: Impact in trees about 400 m before the runway threshold; the aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, seriously injured at the scene, later died in hospital.