K 10A stalls trying to climb low on Föhn-turbulent slope

The pilot of a K 10A was fatally injured when the glider stalled low on a slope in Föhn-driven lee turbulence and dove steeply into a 45° slope; aircraft destroyed. With only 3:36 h on type, the pilot had aerotowed from Saanen and flown ~2 h in broken Föhn thermals before arriving low (~1,800 m MSL); a witness saw him at ~80 m AGL just before. Trying to climb, he undershot minimum airspeed; the wing stalled and the glider entered a steep dive. Airbrakes were retracted; the handbook prescribes brakes-out then pull-up to recover the spiral-dive mode. Mass/CG within limits, no defects. Cause: stall + terrain; slope tactics in Föhn contributed.

1. Saanen aerotow; broken Föhn thermals: The pilot aerotowed at 14:10 from Saanen in his K 10A for a private soaring flight, in Föhn-influenced conditions with broken thermals and gusty southerly wind over the Bernese Oberland.
2. Low currency (3:36 h on K 10A): Pilot had only 3:36 h on the Schleicher K 10A, of which 2:00 h were flown in the last 90 days. Mass 300 kg (max 320 kg) and CG within limits; pilot training started in 1972.
3. Low slope climb in lee turbulence: After about two hours aloft the pilot arrived low near Alp Wildeneggli and tried to gain altitude on the slope, hitting lee turbulence from the Föhn; the accident itself was unwitnessed.
4. Stall to steep dive: During the climb attempt he undershot minimum airspeed in the turbulence; the airflow separated and the glider went into a steep dive toward the ground.
5. Airbrakes retracted; recovery missed: Airbrakes were found retracted. The manual notes the type turns a spin into a speed-building spiral dive, prescribing airbrakes first, then pull-out — a procedure not applied here.
6. Vertical impact on 45° slope: The glider struck a steep alpine slope at very high speed, near-vertical; the right wing separated, the aircraft was destroyed and the pilot killed. No technical or medical cause was found.