Discus B und ASW 27 Kollision in der Luft nahe Bayreuth während des Bavaria Glide 1998

Am 18. August 1998 kam es während des Bavaria Glide 1998 Wettbewerbs in der Nähe von Bayreuth zu einer Kollision in der Luft zwischen einem Schempp-Hirth Discus B und einer Schleicher ASW 27. Der Discus B geriet nach der Kollision in einen unkontrollierten Flugzustand und stürzte ab, was zu tödlichen Verletzungen des Piloten führte. Der ASW 27 erlitt erhebliche Schäden, konnte jedoch sicher landen, wobei der Pilot nur leichte Verletzungen erlitt. Die Untersuchung stellte fest, dass beide Flugzeuge mit GPS-Loggern ausgestattet waren, aber die Daten des Discus B aufgrund von Aufprallschäden verloren gingen. Die Wetterbedingungen waren günstig und es wurden keine technischen Mängel an den Segelflugzeugen festgestellt.

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 Discus b pilot did not successfully abandon the aircraft, possibly impeded by the high rotational forces and a missing or hard-to-find canopy jettison knob.
7. Crash - fatal: The Discus b impacted a grassy, slightly southward-sloping hillside at a near-vertical attitude, destroying the glider and fatally injuring the pilot, while the ASW-27, though heavily damaged, landed safely with its pilot only lightly injured.