Keep your hand off the release handle during aero tows!

At 15:09 11 October 2013, George Knight wrote:
Agreed, but depending on the tug being flown this may be more difficult
than for the glider pilot. The tug pilot will normally have one hand on
the stick and the other on the throttle/gas so at a moment when he is
probably being subjected to a violent downward 'bunt' he needs to let go
of
something (the throttle), look for the release, grab it and operate it.
On
some tugs the release is near the throttle, on others it is in the roof,
it
may be on his left when he has his right hand on the throttle. Evidence
suggests that tug pilots are not able to react fast enough.

The onus must be on the glider pilot not to put the tug and its pilot at
risk. If the glider pilot has his hand touching the release:
1. He/she can pull it faster than the tug.
2. The glider pilot is in a better position to see/realise that the tow
is
going wrong. Unless the tug pilot is looking in the mirror at the right
moment, by the time he feels the speed going and the nose dropping it is
probably too late if he is much below 1,000'.

Following the accident at Aboyne in which Stan Easton lost his life one of
the requirements for UK tugs is that the release must always be adjacent to
the throttle. I have seen banner towing tugs where it is not but for glider
towing I understood that it was a requirement.