Every year this (or a similar) thread shows up on RAS. Basically, it
is "Oh Muh God, people are DIEING!

Step back and take a deep breath; has anything fundamentally changed
in the sport? I don't think so. Soaring has its hazards and that will
not change. If you want to reduce your risk: stop flying! Clearly, the
sport would be better off if some of the pilots did this. Cheer up,
Lennie the Lurker did!

Soaring requires a higher degree of pilot proficiency than powered
flight does. Nothing is going to change that, although technology
might help to a small degree, i.e. collision avoidance devices. Most
accidents, however, don't involve this (like the fatality at Air
Sailing).

The wild card in all of this is how will each individual pilot react
to a real emergency. Sometimes training can simulate an emergency, but
the student will always think, in the back of his/hers mind, that the
instructor will bail him/her out if he/she screws up.

I don't like going to friends funerals anymore than the next guy, but
I'm not willng to give up the sport to eliminate the possibility.

Tom Seim
Richland, WA