Accidente de Standard Cirrus durante lanzamiento con torno en Wiesendangen

El 7 de abril de 1985, un Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus se estrelló cerca de Wiesendangen, Suiza, durante un lanzamiento con torno. El cable de remolque se soltó inesperadamente a aproximadamente 150 metros de altitud, lo que llevó al piloto a intentar un circuito acortado para el aterrizaje. Durante la base, el planeador entró en pérdida y se estrelló, resultando en lesiones fatales para el piloto. La investigación confirmó que la causa fue una entrada en pérdida debido a una velocidad insuficiente antes de la aproximación final.

1. Winch launch climb: During a winch launch from Flugfeld Winterthur, the glider climbed somewhat steeply after liftoff.
2. Tow cable release: At about half the planned winch height, around 150 m above ground, the winch cable unexpectedly released from the glider.
3. Abbreviated circuit planned: The pilot immediately lowered the nose to maintain airspeed and turned left to fly a shortened circuit for a normal landing on runway 21.
4. Tight base leg: The base leg of the landing circuit was flown fairly tight, with the glider becoming visibly slower before turning final.
5. Stall in base turn: At about 80–100 m above ground, just before turning final, the glider entered an over‑stalled condition due to airspeed below minimum and rolled off over the left wing.
6. Crash - fatal: After one rotation the glider impacted the ground steeply nose‑first on grass about 400 m before runway 21, destroying the aircraft and fatally injuring the pilot.