Standard Cirrus stalls in a low reversal turn short of the field

The pilot of a Standard Cirrus was seriously injured when the glider stalled in a low reversal turn at Hildisrieden; aircraft destroyed. On his first flight in almost a year, the pilot had set the altimeter ~16 hPa high, overreading by ~150 m: he thought he was near 1300 m, really about 1050 m. Working weak thermals in 4 km visibility and gusty NE wind, he lost height and turned back. At about 100 m, unable to reach the field, he began a 180° turn into downwind; the glider dropped below flying speed and stalled in. The cause was falling below minimum speed at low height; low currency, poor visibility and gusts made it hard to hold attitude.

1. Aerotow training flight: The pilot, with very little recent flight training, departed Luzern-Beromünster on an aerotow training flight after an interruption of almost one year.
2. Altimeter mis-set: The altimeter was incorrectly set to 1040 hPa instead of the actual 1024 hPa QNH, causing it to overread by about 150 m and giving the pilot an overly optimistic impression of his height.
3. Low altitude near field: After releasing at about 1050 m and losing height in weak thermals with poor visibility and gusty wind, the pilot reached the field at only about 100 m, unable to reach the runway.
4. Turn downwind at low height: Over a small wood near Schopfen, at about 100 m above ground, the pilot initiated a 180° reversal turn into downwind to reposition despite the low height and gusty conditions.
5. Stall in reversal turn: During this low-altitude reversal turn the glider’s airspeed dropped below minimum flying speed, leading to a stall and loss of control.
6. Crash - serious injury: The glider impacted nose-first at the edge of a field, bounced and rotated 180° before striking tail-first in a meadow, destroying the aircraft and seriously injuring the pilot.