Collision with terrain - Edmund Schneider KA 6, VH-GHA, Barmera, South Australia, 11 December 1994

The glider had been prepared for its first flight of the day and found airworthy. The pilot was considered to be competent and had been trained in all emergency procedures pertaining to winch launches.

Witnesses reported that although the take-off appeared normal, the glider climbed at a steep angle and slow forward speed.  At about 200 ft above ground level the winch tow cable failed. The pilot lowered the nose to about the level flight attitude before commencing a turn to the right and releasing the broken tow cable. As he had not lower the nose sufficiently for the glider to gain flying speed, it stalled, entered a spin and impacted the ground.

Winch tow cable are known to break regularly, and glider pilots are trained to cope with this situation.  It could not be determined why the pilot failed to apply the correct recovery procedures.