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. A nearby instructor described the launch as textbook; no water ballast was carried, visibility was over 10 km, and cumulus was above ~1 070 m AGL. The pilot had received a briefing on the latest BGA winch-launch advice before flying; the briefing did not include any discussion of intentional spinning.
2. Low time on type (2 h): The pilot had ~19 600 h total flying experience from a long professional airline career, but only 2 h on the Discus B and ~15 h in gliders in the previous 90 days. Most of his winch-launched glider flights to date had been of short duration. His last annual refresher in 2008 had included a spin check rated exceptionally well done in a different glider type.
3. Spin entry to left while soaring: About ten minutes after release from the winch cable, ground witnesses saw the glider established in a spin to the left, first observed at ~180 m AGL. No mechanical malfunction was identified to account for the entry, and no distracting event could be identified. There was no evidence the pilot had planned an intentional spinning exercise on the flight.
4. No recovery; spin continued to impact: The glider passed out of the witnesses' line of sight still spinning, and no distress call was made on the radio. Manufacturer flight-test data indicated that a spin in the Discus B is normally recovered in not more than half a turn with a height loss of around 80 m, so the ~180 m at first sighting offered ample margin for recovery. The reason no recovery was achieved could not be established.
5. Pilot fatally injured; glider destroyed: The glider struck a field of rape on a heading of 170°M in a nose-down, left-wing-low attitude and at low forward speed; the dense crop dampened the motion on impact. The lower cockpit was extensively damaged and the left wing leading edge had delaminated. All flying controls were serviceable prior to impact. The centre of gravity sat at the aft limit but within the approved range and was not considered causal. The possibility of an incapacitating heart-rhythm event could not be discounted, although no pathological evidence of incapacitation was present.