Pegase strikes an undetected power line on short final during an outlanding

The pilot was injured and the glider destroyed when it caught a power line on an outlanding and flipped. Unable to re-find lift on a cross-country, the pilot sank through 500 m and committed to a field landing. He chose a large ploughed field, looked it over while descending, and began the approach at about 250 m. On short final the glider struck a medium-voltage line along the field's near edge; the gear snagged a cable, and the glider flipped and hit the ground inverted. The line had gone undetected: such lines are very hard to see from the air, and here the poles blended with the field and cast almost no shadow under a near-overhead sun.

1. Cross-country over the plains: The pilot aerotowed from Bordeaux-Saucats for a local cross-country over the flat Landes, working thermals between about 1,000 and 1,400 m.
2. Lift failed on the way back: Near Rion-des-Landes the air turned less favourable; the pilot turned back toward Morcenx but could not re-find the lift and kept sinking.
3. Outlanding committed at 500 m: Through 500 m the pilot broke off the flight to land in a field, choosing a large ploughed field and looking it over while descending.
4. Power line at the field edge unseen: He began the approach at about 250 m; a medium-voltage line ran along the field's near edge and went undetected.
5. Struck the line, flipped inverted: On short final the glider hit the line; the gear caught a cable, the glider flipped and struck the ground inverted, destroyed, the pilot injured.