On Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 2:26:36 PM UTC, John Cochrane wrote:
The facts seem pretty clear

- Bad news: on a per hour basis, soaring is pretty risky

-Good news: the risks are not of the Russian-roulette type, how many barrels are loaded. The risk is primarily that you or I will do something dumb.. Gliding is inherently quite safe.

I am a pessimist and have a different personal perspective on my own gliding safety. In my view every time I take a launch in a glider it will end in my fatality unless I prevent it. (Proof - put a dummy in a glider and launch it.)

Fortunately the actions to prevent that are pretty simple and vary according to the phase of flight. 1) Make sure the glider is airworthy and think out the launch emergency plan in advance. 2) If the wing hits the ground on a winch launch release immediately. 3) If you cant keep adequate control and position on an aerotow release immediately put the stick forward and follow the emergency plan. 4) In free flight *look out* and do not hit another glider - or a mountainside. 5) Fly accurately at all times and if anything whatsoever surprising ever happens in any turn then put the stick forward to unload the wing immediately - or better still sooner than that - then think. 6) Always have an realistic plan about where to land if something goes goes wrong with the soaring (or the engine doesn't start). 7) Never find yourself "holding the nose up" when close to the ground or on an aerotow (not the same as appropriate raising the nose to slow down) because that means the stick is being held back, the angle of attack is too high and you are in risk of being an unfortunate statistic. 8) Actively monitor the airspeed and attitude during the turn to finals and give it an extra few knots.

The underlying principles are preparation, not hitting anything, constant awareness of the angle of attack relative to the stall, and situational awareness.

Yes, I have broken a glider (in an unexpectedly long grass field landing) and, yes, I am aware that I have just jinxed myself by writing this.