Over 40 years ago a good friend of mine was killed while Flying a
Citarbria on areotow at Aboyne, Scotland.

The findings of the enquiry were that the release as on the floor of the
cockpit and could be reached while the inertia seatbelts allowed
movement. In turbulence if the belts locked it was not possible for
some pilots to reach the release. The glider pilot admitted losing sight
of the tug and failed to release.
As the result of that accident it was an airworthiness requirement that
the glider release was mounted near to the throttle. The requirement
that if a glider pilot lost sight of the tug FOR ANY REASON he should
immediately release.
We will not know the exact causes of the current accident for sometime,
speculation can be counter productive, however the two lessons above
are still valid.
I find it crazy that there are still tugs allowed to fly without the
release
in close proximity to the throttle and there are still glider pilots who do

not release when they should. Surely 40 years is enough time to learn a
lesson.