In article .com,
"Ramy" wrote:

There had been yet another fatality recently as a result of
misinterpreting the open spoilers signal. True we all passed the
written test and know that wiggeling the rudder means check spoilers
and rocking the wings means release, yet so many students and
experienced pilots alike continiue to confuse this signal and releasing
the tow rope instead, often resulting in accidents. It is not hard to
understand why: The tow plane barely climb, the glider pilot suspects
something must be wrong with the tow plane, then he/she sees the rudder
signal which confirms his thought that something is wrong, then
releases the tow rope in panic, since this is what we were taught to do
if something is wrong with the tow plane.
I think that there is a relatively simple solution for this:
1 - If radio is available (and it always should) - use it instead of
the rudder signal!
2 - If this doesn't doesn't work, the signal should be avoided until
the glider is at least 200
feet, unless of course, the tow plane is in immediate danger.
3 - If the glider pilot sees the tow plane signaling something (wigling
the rudder or rocking the wings)
the FIRST look at the spoilers, then release the tow rope if necessary.
In this case, the pilot will do the correct action regardless of the
signal. I think this is what needs to be taught.

I am not an instructor myself, so this is just my humble opinion...

Ramy

It might be that there was a spoiler malfunction. I think there was a
crash during a landing at Truckee where the spoilers on a G103 were
opened as a test, but then because of wear in the mechanism, they went
into a configuration where they couldn't be retracted.

There could have been a medical event, or a medical event combined with
an equipment malfunction, leaving a student to make a critical decision.

As usual, this is just speculation until an investigation is performed.

Still, I'm very sad to hear about Joe. He made a better pilot out of
me, when I was a student. For one thing, I learned to politely decline
if he offered me half of his pickle sandwich, which was his way of
rewarding good flying. Talk about spicy!!

Ken