ASG 29 stalls in a ridge turn with the flaps still in the landing setting

The pilot was killed and the glider destroyed when it stalled and spun into woodland while ridge soaring. After an aerotow and a climb on the sustainer, the pilot worked the rock faces in figure-eights, turning away from the wall each time. About 70 metres above the rock edge and still climbing, he changed to a full circle toward the face, flaps latched in the landing setting. The glider met a strong downdraught, airspeed fell from about 95 to 67 km/h, and a hard pull at a bank of at least 45 degrees stalled the left wing. It rolled through 180 degrees into a spin, with no height to recover.

1. Cross-country from Wiener Neustadt: The pilot launched by aerotow at about 11:36 UTC to roughly 1250 metres MSL, then used the retractable sustainer to climb to about 1632 metres before stowing it.
2. Ridge soaring at the Saurüssel: Working westward along the rock faces, the pilot flew repeated figure-eights and climbed at up to 3 metres per second, deliberately placing each turning point away from the wall.
3. Flaps latched in the landing setting: The flap lever stayed engaged in position L, the landing setting, through the final manoeuvre. The flight manual sets out the minimum speeds that go with it.
4. Full circle turned toward the face: Climbing well, the pilot converted the figure-eight into a full left circle toward the wall about 70 metres above the rock edge, and met a pronounced downdraught.
5. Airspeed decays in a steep pull: Sink reached at least 5 metres per second. Airspeed fell from about 95 to 67 km/h as the pilot pulled hard to hold height at a bank of at least 45 degrees.
6. Stall, spin and impact: The left wing stalled, the glider rolled through 180 degrees and entered a spin, falling almost vertically into woodland near the crest. The pilot was killed.