ASW 20 CL hits a treetop in a circle flown instead of the final turn into a field

Outlanding at Bystré on a cross-country flight, the pilot of a Schleicher ASW 20 CL was seriously injured and the glider substantially damaged when he flew a full circle instead of turning final and the right wing struck a treetop. As thermals weakened he had inspected the field from about 400 m AGL, but left it to look for lift and found none. Back near the field at about 70 m AGL, he lost height in the circle and flew over houses; the wing hit the tree 8 m above the ground. The accident was attributed to the flight being broken off late while the pilot manoeuvred too low looking for lift.

1. 520 km cross-country flight: The pilot was aerotowed from Brno-Medlánky at 10:13 for a 520 km task via Votice, Slavonice and Praděd; the first two legs went well.
2. Thermals weakened past Vír: After the Vír reservoir the thermals weakened markedly; at 14:43 the pilot flew an inspection turn over a field at Bystré at about 400 m AGL.
3. Left the field to look for lift: Instead of landing he searched for lift 0.6 to 2.1 km north-east of the field, found no further climb and turned back towards it.
4. Full right circle at 70 m AGL: Back near the field after crossing road 362 at about 70 m AGL, he did not fly the final turn but a 360° right turn, which lost height and took the glider over houses.
5. Tree strike; pilot seriously hurt: At about 8 m AGL the right wing cut through a tree trunk and lost its outer part; the glider struck the ground nose first and overturned onto a lawn. Residents freed the pilot.