Discus B enters unrecovered left spin while soaring

The pilot of a Discus B was fatally injured in an unrecovered left spin near Gransden Lodge; aircraft destroyed. About ten minutes into a winch-launched soaring flight, witnesses saw the glider established in a spin to the left at ~180 m AGL; it remained spinning out of their line of sight and struck a rape field nose-down, left wing low, at low forward speed. The pilot had ~19 600 h total but only 2 h on type. No mechanical defect was identified and the CG sat at the aft limit but within range; no cause was established for the spin entry or the failure to recover, and an incapacitating heart-rhythm event could not be discounted.

1. Winch-launched soaring flight: A Schempp-Hirth Discus B was winch-launched at Gransden Lodge for a private soaring flight on a good soaring day, with visibility over 10 km and cumulus above about 1,070 m AGL.
2. Low time on type (2 h): The pilot had flown the Discus B only briefly before the accident flight, with most prior winch launches on other glider types.
3. Spin entry to left while soaring: About ten minutes after release from the winch, witnesses saw the glider enter a spin to the left, first seen at about 180 m AGL, with no mechanical fault or distraction identified.
4. No recovery; spin continued to impact: The glider spun out of the witnesses' sight with no distress call; the type normally recovers from a spin within half a turn and about 80 m, leaving ample margin that was not used.
5. Pilot fatally injured; glider destroyed: The glider struck a field of rape nose-down with the left wing low at low speed heading 170°M; the pilot was fatally injured and the glider destroyed.