On Thursday, 27 September 2018 19:28:44 UTC+3, Tango Whisky wrote:
This is actually quite helpful. "Loops" means up and down, not spiral dive, and paraglider pilots know the difference. Nobody does multiple loops to the point of structural failure intentionally or unintentionally. That pretty much screams elevator control failure, and somehow getting stuck in a rearwards position. It also explains why the pilots might not have been able to bail out. Yes, I'm speculating, but that's likely all we'll get.

John Cochrane

I agree. Ripping off the wings in a loop means going up to close to 10 g (5.6 g on the flight envelope, plus a demonstrated security factor of 1.75).. Going close to that limit can't be done repeatedly without blacking out (I regularily do aerobatics with sailplanes between -3.5 and 6 g), so this can't have happened intentionally or unintentionally.

Bert TW

What if wing was weaker than intended (ref. DuoDiscus wing spar AD years back)? Ripping of wings is impossible at max. rough air speed or less as wing stalls before it breaks but I think is possible at higher speed.