Inadvertant IMC - DG1000, Manawatu, New Zealand

Strange, because I thought the commentary was well done and quite educational. The original, unedited video is still up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8djWfNmJlKo

Uli
'AS'

PureGlide reaction video removed at request of Gliding New Zealand pending imminent safety advisory.
A very experienced and qualified instructor on a strong ridge day missed the students initial left turn, combined with loss of SA, IMC entry, over-G recovery for terrain and re-entry into IMC before second recovery and leeward escape to safe outlanding.

I have flown in similar conditions many times with students. To help the student understand the best position, we pay attention to the clouds and always fly on the upwind side and expect the best lift on the tallest clouds. He flew downwind of just that cloud. Like all ridge soaring, have any exit strategy away and upwind. If you see you re getting boxed in, it is OK to turnaround and fly through the same airmass you just experienced. When there was nothing ahead of them, wishful thinking must have kicked in.

I feel there might be more to learn if the entire GoPro video was shared. Somewhere along the way, the student might have been encouraged to fly this way. There was an accident on the Whites a while back that had these elements, lucky no one was killed in either.

Buzz