wrote:

Aldo, is there some way to learn more about the circumstances of these
two tragic accidents, particularly that in France ?

The entire soaring community is affected by these events.

Dear Charles,

IMHO there is something to learn from both accdents.

The French accident happened during an important competition, The
pilot had strong personal motivations. She scored very well in the
first comp day. We don't know much, partly because only a few days
have gone ( tough days for us all, believe me).
The wind was blowing at about 20 kts, over a generally landable area.
She was flying at very low altitude; we suppose that she was gliding
downwind. She probably decided too late to commit herself to an
outlanding. She impacted the ground in a steep attitude.
Considerations:
she used to fly a Discus since 2001, and got hold of her LS-8 only a
few days before this last flight;
we Italians are not used to fly the flatland in windy conditions.

The Italian mountain accident happened quite late in the afternoon, to
a pilot with 20+ yrs of experience. He (59 yrs old) enjoyed an
excellent soaring day, reaching the French Alps from Torino, and
maintaining 3000-4000 metres for many hours.(these facts are known
from his flight buddies). It seems that he had no oxygen on board. On
the way back to Torino, he found weak conditions. He crashed at a
relatively low altitude (1200m), at ridge level, in a place from where
he would not be able to glide back home. It is possible that he was
trying to cross the ridge line, in order to get closer to home.

We are waiting to see the data stored by the loggers in both these
accidents.

Fly safely, enjoy the sky

Aldo Cernezzi