At 23:20 01 June 2014, Kevin Christner wrote:
I had my first "rope break" ever today. I was approximately 200-250ft
abov=
e the ground. Emergency procedures were not a problem.

The Tost released for some reason. Its a nose hook so the back release
mec=
hanism could not have been the culprit. Further testing with the wheel
bre=
ak on the ground revealed no problems so I took another tow and had no
prob=
lems. The ring may not have been engaged properly (doubtful) or the
slack
=
I got in the rope was just too much when it tightened back up (probable
but=
the release still should have held).

In any case has anyone else ever experienced an actual emergency
unplanned
=
release? In 14 years of flying I have never heard of one. Good thing we
d=
o practice this. =20

2C

Most common cause is a broken spring. If the spring breaks on one side it
will still close the hook but with insufficient tension. This can cause
intermittent failures.