ASK 21 low cable break — airbrakes before pitch recovery, hard landing

A Schleicher ASK 21 on a winch-launch instruction flight at Orléans - Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel made a hard landing; the instructor was seriously injured, the student injured, and the glider lightly damaged. A few metres after rotation the cable released for undetermined reasons. The instructor allowed a 'pedagogical second'; the student — first flight of the season — reflexively deployed the airbrakes before any pitch-down. The instructor took over but too late. BEA cited the absent immediate pitch-down (pedagogical-second plus student inexperience) with premature airbrake deployment.

1. Winch launch from RWY 05 (grass): On a winch-launch instruction takeoff from grass RWY 05 at Orléans - Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel, the ASK 21 with instructor (700+ h, 300+ on type) and student (~20 h, first flight of the season) began rotation.
2. Cable release at low height: A few metres above the ground just after rotation, the winch cable released for an undetermined reason. Pre-flight check of hook and weak link was nominal; post-accident inspection found hook and cable intact, and the winch operator reported no technical problem.
3. Instructor's pedagogical second: BEA contributing factor: the instructor chose to leave 'a pedagogical second' for the student to react rather than take immediate control. Post-accident the instructor acknowledged this delay was too long given the very low height and the still-recoverable trajectory at cable release.
4. Student's low recent experience: BEA contributing factor: the student had ~20 h total and this was his first flight of the season (he had soloed the previous year).
5. Briefed airbrakes too early: The pre-takeoff briefing the student had memorised was 'attitude, airbrakes, land ahead'. Post-accident, the instructor reflected that the briefing should put pitch-down first and airbrake deployment only after attitude and speed are re-established. The operator subsequently issued internal guidance: on low-altitude cable break in instruction, the instructor takes control immediately; and pre-takeoff briefings should be rehearsed with the actual stick movements so the reflex matches the words.
6. Airbrakes before pitch-down: Reflexively following his memorised briefing, the student unlocked and deployed the airbrakes before any pitch-down was made to regain approach speed. The airbrakes reduced lift and increased drag at a time when the glider needed to convert what altitude/energy remained into approach speed.
7. Instructor takeover too late: After the brief pause, the instructor took the controls, retracted the airbrakes, and applied a nose-down pitch attitude — but the intervention came too late to fully recover the flight path.
8. Hard landing wings level: About ten seconds after the start of the launch, the glider hit the ground hard with wings level. Instructor seriously injured (spinal area); student injured; glider lightly damaged.