Atterrissage en campagne d'un Ka 7 près de Schänis entraîne des blessures et des dommages importants

Le 2 juin 1968, un Alexander Schleicher Ka 7 a effectué un atterrissage en campagne près de Schänis, en Suisse. Le planeur, transportant un pilote et un passager, a dû atterrir dans un champ après avoir rencontré un manque de portance pendant le vol. Lors de la tentative d'atterrissage, l'aile droite a touché le sol, entraînant un crash. Le pilote a subi des blessures graves, tandis que le passager a été légèrement blessé. L'appareil a subi de lourds dommages, et il y a eu des dommages mineurs au champ.

1. Aerotow local soaring: After an aerotow departure from Schänis, the pilot conducted a local soaring flight along the Schäniserberg and towards Weesen–Amden with a passenger on board.
2. Insufficient height for return: On the return leg near the Biberlichopf, with about 500 m AGL and experiencing sink, the pilot realized that reaching Schänis airfield would be doubtful and that an outlanding would likely be required.
3. Low height near field: Continuing toward Schänis with diminishing altitude, the pilot approached the area west of the station at about 200 m AGL, leaving little margin for a normal landing circuit.
4. Abandoned first outlanding plan: Despite having selected a suitable field west of Schänis station, the pilot turned right about 45° to chase a reported area of lift instead of committing to the planned outlanding.
5. Low, downwind return: Finding renewed sink, the pilot turned left about 180° to return to the chosen field, now with a tailwind and at very low height, and then attempted to turn right parallel to the railway using mostly rudder to avoid banking.
6. Wing drop and ground contact: In the shallow, skid-prone turn close to the ground, the glider tended to drop the right wing, and despite the pilot pushing the nose down and adding bank, the right wingtip struck the ground about 70 m from the railway.
7. Crash - serious injury: The glider pivoted about 180° over its nose and came to rest after about 30 m, seriously injuring the pilot, slightly injuring the passenger, and heavily damaging the aircraft in an off-field landing.