El Club Libelle entra en pérdida en un viraje bajo tras romperse un fusible de remolque
El piloto de un Club Libelle 205 resultó gravemente herido cuando el planeador entró en pérdida tras la rotura del fusible en Les Eplatures; planeador destruido. En un remolque, el fusible del planeador, debilitado por remolques anteriores, se rompió a 20–30 m sobre la pista. El piloto viró casi 180° a la izquierda muy bajo; la velocidad cayó, el planeador entró en pérdida y picó pronunciado, ala izquierda primero. 250 m de pista y 150 m de terreno despejado por delante permitían aterrizar de frente; edificios, laderas e instalaciones probablemente indujeron el viraje. La resistencia insuficiente del fusible, difícil de detectar, contribuyó.
- Aerotow takeoff: The Club Libelle 205 began an aerotow takeoff from runway 06 with a headwind of 10–15 kt, climbing normally behind the Robin towplane.
- Damaged weak link: The towrope fusible link on the glider side had been rapidly degraded by prior use and impacts, with partial wire breaks that were difficult to detect visually.
- Weak link failure: At about 20–30 m above the runway, abeam the control tower, the towrope's fusible link on the glider side failed without any noticeable jerk, disconnecting the glider from the towplane.
- Low-altitude turn back: Instead of continuing straight ahead, the pilot initiated an almost 180-degree left turn at very low height, likely influenced by airport installations, wooded slopes, and buildings ahead.
- Stall and nose-down: During the steep left turn the glider’s airspeed decayed, it stalled and entered a very steep nose-down flight path toward the ground.
- Crash - serious injury: The left wing and then the nose struck the ground near the runway, destroying the glider and seriously injuring the pilot.