Super Blanik lands hard and catches a wing after a simulated winch failure at 30 m

During a simulated winch failure at Mikulovice, the student and instructor of an L-23 Super Blanik were unhurt, but the glider was substantially damaged when it landed hard and caught its left wing. The winch driver cut the power at about 30 m, lower than on earlier flights, on a launch he had kept downwind against the training syllabus. The student pushed over, but as he went to round out the glider lacked the speed for it; the left wing dropped and the glider swung left about 90°, off the runway edge and back. The report judged that at that height the crew probably could not have prevented it.

1. Winch launch-failure exercise: At the end of a week of winch training, the student was winch-launched with the instructor from grass RWY 23 at Mikulovice at 11:47 on the drill for a power cut below 50 m AGL, which he expected.
2. Launch with a light tailwind: An approaching shower had turned the wind behind the launch. The winch driver, who put it at up to about 7 km/h, kept the launch direction, against the training syllabus.
3. Power cut at about 30 m AGL: So the glider would land closer and the cable need not be retrieved, the winch driver cut the power lower than on earlier flights, at about 30 m AGL, with the glider climbing at about 45°.
4. Student pushes over: The student pushed the stick forward, at once by the instructor's account and after just under a second by the winch driver's, and the glider pointed steeply at the ground.
5. No speed left to flare: As the student went to round out, the glider lacked the speed, probably with a gust from behind, and the left wing dropped. The instructor later said he had left the controls to the student.
6. Hard landing and wing strike: The main wheel struck hard about 400 m from the threshold as the left wing touched; the glider swung left about 90°, ran 2.5 m off the runway edge and back. Both were unhurt.