Dan G wrote:

Have to say that in the fatal accident reports I've read, the pilot
was invariably killed by multiple injuries, not head injuries alone.
That said there have been two accidents in the UK this year where
pilots survived but were left with serious head injuries, and believe
me they're the worst kind of injuries you can have. However I can't
say a helmet would have prevented those injuries - it depends entirely
on how the head was impacted, what by, what energies were involved
etc. My gut feeling is that helmets would be of little use and their
costs (fatigue, possibly reduced vis) too high.

Multiple injuries including head injuries in fatal or non-fatal gliding
accidents should lead us to ask an important question: did the head
injury limit the ability of the pilot to avoid further injuries from
delayed, slow, or no egress; from late or no chute activation; from
inability to steer away from a poor landing place; from inability to
make a correct PLF (parachute landing fall); etc.?

Canopy jettison is a known threat to the pilot's head, esp where the
Roeger Hook http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/roegerhaken-e.html is not fitted.



Jack