Incident de Kestrel lors de l'approche d'atterrissage à l'aérodrome de Schänis

Le 29 juillet 1973, un Glasflügel Kestrel a connu un incident lors de son approche d'atterrissage à l'aérodrome de Schänis en Suisse. Le pilote, qui avait une expérience significative avec l'appareil, a initié la séquence d'atterrissage, mais l'aile gauche du planeur a heurté un champ de roseaux près de la piste. Ce contact a provoqué une dérive à gauche du planeur et un impact au sol avant d'atteindre la piste. Le pilote est resté indemne, mais l'appareil a subi des dommages importants. Aucun dommage à des tiers n'a été signalé.

1. Landing approach: After a normal aerotow and soaring flight, the pilot commenced the landing on runway 35 with an approach over a reed field in front of the hard-surface runway.
2. Steep glide path: Witnesses observed a relatively steep final glide path with airbrakes about two-thirds extended, with the projected touchdown point 10–15 m before the runway threshold.
3. Too low over reeds: In the last part of the final approach the glider descended too low, such that the landing gear and left wingtip came into contact with the top of the 30–150 cm high reed field just before its end.
4. Loss of control: Contact with the reeds caused the glider to yaw left and sink further, deviating from the intended flight path and losing height rapidly.
5. Ground and road impact: About 8 m before the runway the glider struck the ground hard and the left wingtip hit the road in front of the runway, inducing a violent yaw to the left that tore off the tail section with the empennage.
6. Crash - no injury: The glider sustained severe structural damage with the tail section separated, but the pilot was uninjured and there was no third-party damage.