I was present (with a great many other glider pilots) last year at a
competition when an ASW27 crashed into trees final gliding to the airfield.
There was not quite enough energy, and he hit the top of a tall tree on the
boundary, broke through this to finish in a small tree a few yards further
on. The fuselage finished just clear of the ground with the wings badly
damaged. The pilot was I think completely uninjured, certainly he walked
away. It would have been much worse but for that small tree.

This year at that airfield they set the finish line so as to avoid finishing
over the trees.

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.).
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"JJ Sinclair" wrote in message
...

Thanks for your thoughts on this accident, Mike. It is always tragic
when life is lost because of inexperience.

I guess the lesson that we can learn from this is; If there is nothing but
trees below you, then *put it in the trees* and don't try to avoid them.

I do think it is important for us to analyze our accidents in a forum like
RAS, because if we don't do it, nobody will. Please tell us what you
think caused an accident and what could have prevented it. That's the
only way to get the word out and possibly prevent a similar accident.

JJ Sinclair.