Super Blanik stalls pulling up from a low spin recovery with the airbrakes out

A Super Blanik stalled and spun into a field near Sazená as it pulled up steeply from a spin recovery below 50 m AGL with the airbrakes still out; both occupants were killed and the glider destroyed. The crew had released from tow at 1,070 m MSL, flown one spin turn and recovered it, the instructor's usual limit. On the second spin no recovery began: the glider rotated left for about 18 seconds and came out just above the ground, flew level and fast briefly, then zoomed into a right turn towards the airfield, lost speed and spun again. The instructor had been taking a prescribed opioid painkiller his aeromedical examiner did not know about.

1. Spin refresher after aerotow: An instructor and a pilot planned a refresher exercise in spin technique from the sport training syllabus. The crew released from tow at 1,070 m MSL.
2. Instructor on a strong painkiller: Toxicology later found a prescribed opioid analgesic in the instructor's blood at a therapeutic level. He had not told his aeromedical examiner that he was taking it.
3. Five years without a spin drill: The front-seat pilot had last practised spins and stalls five and a half years earlier and had flown 23 minutes on the type that year. Colleagues described him as deferring to the instructor.
4. One turn flown and recovered: The crew flew a single spin turn and recovered it, then glided straight for about 17 seconds. The instructor's known method was to set the recovery limit at one turn.
5. Second spin ran on past five turns: The glider entered a left spin and stayed in it for more than five turns over about 18 seconds with the airbrakes extended. The camera record showed no control input and no self-recovery.
6. Zoom climb with the airbrakes out: The spin ended below 50 m AGL near the runway centreline. After a second or two of fast, level flight the glider was pulled up steeply into a right turn towards the airfield, brakes still out.
7. Speed decays in the turn: The climb reached an estimated 150 to 250 m before the speed fell away. The airbrakes were never retracted; the crew's control of the glider at this point could not be established.
8. Spin into a field: The glider departed into a right spin, turned half a turn and struck a field. Both occupants were killed and the glider was destroyed.