Glider Fatality in WA

Mark Nyberg wrote:

A credible witness observed that by the time Joe realized he was in
trouble, he was too high, had a slight tailwind and had too much
energy for a normal landing. If he proceeded straight ahead he was
certainly going to overrun the runway and end up rolling into the
trees. For some reason he made a hard turn to the right followed by a
hard turn to the left. He ended up low (about 50' AGL) and slow near
midfield.

Out training teaches us to keep our speed up, but at very-low
altitudes our human nature tells us to pull back on the stick in a
turn to stay away from the ground. I didn't understand this very well
until I went up with and instructor who had me practice some slow
skidding turns (like the kind of turn we might be tempted to make from
base to final if we don't have much altitude). I found that stalling
and spin entry can be much easier and more dramatic than I thought. I
am glad you asked about this.

Mark Nyberg

It got me thinking about what I would do in the same situation. It
sounds like he made a reasonable choice by adding some length to his
final by doing some turns. Someone mentioned the field was 2000 feet or
so. Being able to loose enough energy to be slow and midfield at 50
feet sounds like he achieved his goal all too well. 1000 feet to land
from 50 feet sounds tight but doable especially if you're already slow
and need to speed up to do a proper flare. The thing I figured is that
it would *look* tight and maybe impossible especially if the drill at
that field is to land on the numbers (I don't know this). I do know
I've never been drilled with "Fly over most of the runway and stop with
the nose at the far end of the runway." If this was the situation he
was in, I could see how it ended badly.
My condolences to his family and friends

Shawn