Discus B and ASW 27 collide in competition gaggle

In a mid-air during a competition thermal gaggle, the pilot of a Schempp-Hirth Discus B was fatally injured and a Schleicher ASW 27 pilot lightly; Discus destroyed, ASW 27 substantially damaged. About 10–15 gliders were circling left at ~1 000 m AGL. The Discus crossed the centre and turned left into the ASW 27's circle, ~150° offset. The Discus's left wing struck the ASW 27's cockpit area; the outer wing then folded up and separated, and the Discus entered a spiral, impacting near-vertically. Bailout failed despite adequate altitude: rotational forces and a missing canopy-jettison knob may have prevented it — timing unclear.

1. Competition thermaling: During the Bavaria Glide 1998 competition, the Discus b was circling in a thermal among a gaggle of about 10–15 gliders, all flying left-hand circles in an updraft.
2. Dense gaggle traffic: The Discus b and ASW-27 were part of the upper third of a dense thermal gaggle, with multiple gliders circling on similar tracks at about 1,000 m above ground.
3. Discus enters ASW-27 path: The Discus b flew through the center of the ASW-27’s circling pattern and then turned left into the same circle, with its path offset by about 150° relative to the ASW-27.
4. Mid-air wing collision: The left wing of the Discus b struck the cockpit/forward fuselage area of the ASW-27, causing immediate structural damage to the Discus b’s left outer wing.
5. Wing failure and spiral: Immediately after the contact, the left outer wing of the Discus b folded upward, separated from the aircraft, and the glider entered a spiral-dive-like uncontrolled attitude.
6. No successful bailout: Although altitude would have allowed a bailout in principle, the pilot did not escape the aircraft, possibly impeded by high rotational forces and a hard-to-find canopy release.
7. Crash - fatal: The Discus b struck a grassy hillside nearly vertically, destroying the glider and fatally injuring the pilot; the ASW-27 landed safely, its pilot only lightly injured.