ASK 23 pilot stretches in too low instead of outlanding, hits a car

On approach to Birrfeld at the end of a supervised training flight, an ASK 23 struck a car on the boundary road; a car passenger was seriously injured, the pilot was unhurt and the glider lightly damaged. The low-time pilot had left the Chestenberg ridge too low in a gusty headwind and could not make a circuit. A risk-free outlanding lay open, but he stretched on toward the runway instead, at 2–10 m AGL — witnesses expected a field landing. He saw the car, on a road gliders must clear by 5 m, only 20 m out, too late to lift over it. The cause was descending below the 5 m road minimum; poor approach tactics and not outlanding contributed.

1. Aerotow local soaring: After four earlier winch launches with an instructor, the pilot aerotowed the ASK 23 from Birrfeld and soared the Chestenberg ridge for about an hour in a moderate-to-strong bise.
2. Left ridge too low: In the bise (headwind) the pilot left the Chestenberg toward Birrfeld at only about 300 m above the field, too low for a normal arrival.
3. Headwind sink on return: Returning toward Birrfeld the glider met sink; speeding up to penetrate the headwind cost more height, ruling out the normal circuit.
4. Skips the normal circuit: Unable to reach the circuit-entry area, the pilot skipped the usual pattern and aimed directly for the right base leg, low.
5. No outlanding taken: With a risk-free outlanding open in the flat ground between the railway and the field, the pilot pressed on toward the runway with rising risk.
6. Very low, unsteady final: Following the railway then turning back in a shallow left base, he arrived at only 2–10 m AGL, below the required margin over the boundary road.
7. Car strike; serious injury: He noticed a car on the boundary road only 20 m out; the nose and main wheel hit its roof, seriously injuring the front occupant. The glider bounced and then landed, lightly damaged.