Accident happened to he motorised glider registred F-CGLP and the ASW 20 L glider registred OO-ZRA in Peyroules (04)
f-lp990509a

 

Event:

Mid-air collision.

Probable cause:

Failure to perceive other aircraft.

Consequences and damage:

OO-ZRA: pilot uninjured, glider slightly damaged.

F-CGLP: pilot killed, aircraft destroyed.

Type of aircraft:

OO-ZRA: single-seat Schleicher ASW 20 L glider.

F-CGLP: single-seat Schempp-Hirth Ventus CM motorised glider.

Date and time:

Sunday 5 September 1999 at 12 h 10.

Owner:

OO-ZRA: private.

F-CGLP: private.

Place:

Peyroules (04), Mount Teillon.

Type of flight:

Local.

Persons on board:

OO-ZRA: pilot.

F-CGLP: pilot.

Licenses and experience:

OO-ZRA: pilot 67, VV issued by Belgium in 1980, 1875 flying hours of which 1379 on type and 68 in the previous 3 months.

F-CGLP: French pilot, 71, VV issued 1966, 4226 flying hours of which 1403 on type and 54 h in the previous 3 months.

Meteorological conditions:

Estimated at the site: wind variable 2 to 6 kt, visibility over 10 km, occasional Cu towards 1600 m, temperature 13 °C, QNH 1019 hPa.

Circumstances

Both gliders had taken off from Fayence, but no radio contact had been established between them. The pilot of the ASW 20 stated he had broadcast some information during the hour of flight which preceded the accident. He stated that at the time of the accident he was flying to the west along Mount Teillon in transition at about 1900 m, at a speed between 110 and 130 kmh. According to him, visibility conditions were good and the sun posed no problems.

The two gliders collided head on, the pilots being unable to see each other well enough in advance to begin to undertake avoidance maneuvers.

The pilot of the ASW 20 was able to keep control of his glider and return to his AD. The nose of this glider was covered with orange paint, had numerous scrape marks and its coating was perforated in several places by the impact. A piece of the left winglet of the Ventus was stuck in the leading edge of its right wing about 2 m from the wing root. The ASW 20 has no paint stripes or adhesive strips designed to improve its visibility.

The Ventus crashed into a steep slope at 1500 m altitude and the pilot did not evacuate the aircraft. The wreckage was spread over 150 m of which about 70 m after the first impact with the ground. The glider was white and had two one-metre long red adhesive strips placed towards the tips of the wings.