Défaillance structurelle du Rhönadler 32 près de Madulain entraîne la mort du pilote

Le 31 mai 1959, un planeur Rhönadler 32 a subi une défaillance structurelle catastrophique près de Madulain, en Suisse. Le planeur s'est désintégré en vol à environ 2700 mètres d'altitude, les ailes et le fuselage se séparant et s'écrasant au sol. Le pilote, qui effectuait un vol d'entraînement en solo, a été tué dans l'incident. L'enquête a suggéré que la défaillance structurelle était probablement due à un dépassement des limites de charge de l'appareil à grande vitesse. Aucun témoin n'était présent pour observer les moments critiques menant à la désintégration.

1. Winch launch to cruise: The pilot winch-launched from Samedan at 15:36 in the Rhönadler 32 for a solo training flight after a brief familiarization circuit.
2. Limited type familiarity: The pilot had no prior experience with pendulum elevators and only minimal time on single-seat gliders, making him unfamiliar with the aircraft’s very pitch-sensitive handling.
3. Structural and info limits: The glider belonged to a low-strength certification group and had a poorly welded wing attachment point, and the pilot had not been briefed on its lower load limits nor consulted the onboard documentation.
4. High-speed overloading: While maneuvering near Piz Mezzaun at about 2700 m, the aircraft was subjected to a high-speed maneuver that likely exceeded its permissible load factor.
5. In-flight structural breakup: The right lower wing-join fitting failed in tension, leading within fractions of a second to failure of the wing-to-fuselage attachments and torsional breakup of both wing rear spars, separating wings and fuselage.
6. No parachute escape: During the subsequent 10–12 second fall from roughly 450–500 m above terrain, the pilot did not attempt or was unable to attempt a parachute jump.
7. Crash - fatal: The separated fuselage and wings impacted terrain near Madulain, completely destroying the glider and killing the pilot on impact.