Ventus cM stalls into a river after three pitch oscillations on aerotow

The pilot was seriously injured and the glider destroyed when it stalled off an aerotow and fell into a river. Having no nose hook, the glider was towed on its centre-of-gravity hook. Just after lift-off it rose steeply above the tug; the pilot pushed and dropped too low, pulled and rose too high again, and the oscillation repeated three times. At about 50 metres AGL the tug turned right to clear a power line, the standard departure. The glider was again high above the tug and near the stall when the pilot opened the airbrakes. The weak link parted, the speed fell away and the right wing stalled. The tug landed without further incident.

1. Aerotow on the centre-of-gravity hook: The glider had no nose hook, so the tow rope was attached to the centre-of-gravity hook for an aerotow from runway 33.
2. 17 hours on type: The pilot had logged about 91 flying hours in total and roughly 17 on the Ventus cM; the investigation recorded the experience on type as low.
3. Steep climb above the tug: Just after lift-off the glider rose above the tug at what a witness described as a very steep angle, ending well above the towplane.
4. Three cycles of over- and undershoot: The pilot pushed and went too low, pulled and went high again, and the oscillation about the normal tow path repeated three times without a stable position being reached.
5. Airbrakes opened at 50 metres AGL: As the tug turned right to clear a power line, the glider was again high and close to the stall. The pilot opened the airbrakes to check the swing and the weak link parted.
6. Stall into the river: The speed fell away, the airflow separated over the right wing and the glider went into the Danube. The pilot was seriously injured; the tug landed without further incident.