RIP Tomas Reich - SGP Chile

From Facebook:

Sad news from the last race day;
Local Chile pilot Tomas Reich had an accident on the ridges south of Santiago. The Chile SAR recovered Tomas and took him by helicopter to the hospital in Santiago. Unfortunately Tomas died during the evening from the injuries he sustained during the accident. Our thoughts and prayers are for his family and friends during this tragic time.

From the SGP.aero site:

During the last race day the tracker signal from GN Tomas Reich was lost whilst he was flying along the ridges south east of Santiago.
An aircraft was despatched from the airfield and the Chile search and rescue were alerted. They found the glider on the hill side and Thomas was found to be alive but injured. Once he was stabilised by the paramedic crew he was taken aboard the helicopter to Santiago hospital.

Unfortunately Tomas died during the evening from the injuries he sustained during the accident.
The news of Tomas death was relayed to the competitors and organisers at Vitacura a short time after the closing ceremony of the contest.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this tragic time.

On Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 6:59:41 AM UTC-7, Paul Agnew wrote:
From Facebook:

Sad news from the last race day;
Local Chile pilot Tomas Reich had an accident on the ridges south of Santiago. The Chile SAR recovered Tomas and took him by helicopter to the hospital in Santiago. Unfortunately Tomas died during the evening from the injuries he sustained during the accident. Our thoughts and prayers are for his family and friends during this tragic time.

Sad news indeed. Would be interested to learn more regarding what exactly happened. Condolences to his family and friends.

On Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 12:25:34 PM UTC-5, John Foster wrote:
On Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 6:59:41 AM UTC-7, Paul Agnew wrote:
From Facebook:

Sad news from the last race day;
Local Chile pilot Tomas Reich had an accident on the ridges south of Santiago. The Chile SAR recovered Tomas and took him by helicopter to the hospital in Santiago. Unfortunately Tomas died during the evening from the injuries he sustained during the accident. Our thoughts and prayers are for his family and friends during this tragic time.

Sad news indeed. Would be interested to learn more regarding what exactly happened. Condolences to his family and friends.

Condolences to his family. Much too early for Tomas.

For anyone who flies in the mountain I suggest reading "Dancing with the Wind" by Jean-Marie Clement. There is a good section on safety of mountain flying, an eye opener.

Tragic. Slight correction; I think Mr. Reich's contest id is ZZ, not GN (also according to his Facebook info). One can review the online tracker just before he moves beyond the FOV. Start @ 1:45:00 where ZZ appears to be moving to align with a CCW gaggle at an altitude similar to the others. You can see him make a correction, but instead of joining the group, he turns abruptly westerly beyond view. I don't think he re-appears after that, though there is data coming from his ship well forward of that timepoint.

https://youtu.be/LgR7KkNXyWI?t=6309

W dniu niedziela, 21 stycznia 2018 21:24:49 UTC+1 użytkownik Duster napisał:
Tragic. Slight correction; I think Mr. Reich's contest id is ZZ, not GN (also according to his Facebook info). One can review the online tracker just before he moves beyond the FOV. Start @ 1:45:00 where ZZ appears to be moving to align with a CCW gaggle at an altitude similar to the others. You can see him make a correction, but instead of joining the group, he turns abruptly westerly beyond view. I don't think he re-appears after that, though there is data coming from his ship well forward of that timepoint.

https://youtu.be/LgR7KkNXyWI?t=6309


76/5000

it happened when there was a break in the transmission - much closer to Santiago

Was the break in transmission perhaps not due to there being an accident? Is there a protocol to be followed during live transmissions in a situation like this?

I'm also "glad" someone talks about it.

I really just can't stand those facebook and SGP posts about the celebrations, the beers and the contest about who's having the happiest closing party after watching the race online. Doesn't anyone of them know a human life was lost to his family?

GP gliding has proved more dangerous than WGC over the years. The loss of Herbert Weiss in NZ (please correct me if I'm wrong) was also followed by denial. Interviews were all about the excellent soaring and the sporting outcome of the final.

I have my own ideas or opinions as to why it is so dangerous. I've been flying 2 or 3 GPs in my life. My experience was of strong emotions I had never lived again (up to the GP) since childhood. The kind of "my friends are leaving me out" or "please wait for me I want to be a member of the group" sort of thing. I was surprised I felt strongly as an adult during a gliding competition.

This put a lot of pressure on me, and it's easy to predict that my decision making processes may be negatively affected. On the other hand, one might counter-argue that the placement point system easily leaves you at Zero points for the day, so the decision to just quit the race should in facts be easier.

In my opinion, while each pilot certainly is responsible for safety, a coaching system or a brief session with a "shrink" specialised in high-risk sports would be recommendable. Especially as the GP formula has failed to bring in sponsor money, and the remaining objective is that of a wider awareness of gliding as a competitive sport in the attention of the general public.

just my disappointed and sad 2cents.

Aldo Cernezzi
www.voloavela.it

On Monday, January 22, 2018 at 10:53:31 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I'm also "glad" someone talks about it.

I really just can't stand those facebook and SGP posts about the celebrations, the beers and the contest about who's having the happiest closing party after watching the race online. Doesn't anyone of them know a human life was lost to his family?

GP gliding has proved more dangerous than WGC over the years. The loss of Herbert Weiss in NZ (please correct me if I'm wrong) was also followed by denial. Interviews were all about the excellent soaring and the sporting outcome of the final.

I have my own ideas or opinions as to why it is so dangerous. I've been flying 2 or 3 GPs in my life. My experience was of strong emotions I had never lived again (up to the GP) since childhood. The kind of "my friends are leaving me out" or "please wait for me I want to be a member of the group" sort of thing. I was surprised I felt strongly as an adult during a gliding competition.

This put a lot of pressure on me, and it's easy to predict that my decision making processes may be negatively affected. On the other hand, one might counter-argue that the placement point system easily leaves you at Zero points for the day, so the decision to just quit the race should in facts be easier.

In my opinion, while each pilot certainly is responsible for safety, a coaching system or a brief session with a "shrink" specialised in high-risk sports would be recommendable. Especially as the GP formula has failed to bring in sponsor money, and the remaining objective is that of a wider awareness of gliding as a competitive sport in the attention of the general public.

just my disappointed and sad 2cents.

Aldo Cernezzi
www.voloavela.it

The way I read it, news of the disaster came later. No one celebrates such a costly win! At least I hope not.

best regards,
Evan Ludeman

They said in a news post on Jan 21 ( http://sgp.aero/finals2017/news_add_...mas-reich.aspx ) that they informed them after the prize-giving: "The news of Tomas death was relayed to the competitors and organisers at Vitacura a short time after the closing ceremony of the contest" so it sounds like no one there knew. They were probably watching the race to see if they could find out what happened - I would have too.

As for the accident during the practice period, they posted a video of the recovery on YouTube on Jan 14 and in the comments said: "We are delighted that Klaus is ok and recovering, probably partly due to the safety cockpit structure of his JS1 sailplane and the bushy area he hard landed in. We will keep you updated during and after the world GP Chile 2018."
They did mention during a grid walk video that the pilot was watching from his hospital bed and was awaiting medical flight back home, but nothing more was said...

On the YouTube commentary one contributor mentioned at one glider was damaged on the third last day on landing. I don't know if that happened (it wasn't reported), but the glider didn't fly the last two days.

Accident reporting, in my opinion, is important. I understand that it is difficult while trying to attract a wider audience, but being more open will prevent a reporter sensationalizing what would likely be termed 'an accident reporting cover-up'. In Kawa's book "Sky Full of Heat" p 76: "... when you read the accounts or official reports of accidents, you question yourself and consider what you would have done in a similar situation." Where are these accident reports for SGP? By the way, section 1.6 "Why are you still alive?" starting on p 72 of the English translation is a must-read.

I know FAI/IGC do some safety videos of problems seen in contests - I saw one when crewing at the first Pan American Glider Championships 2015 on a mid-air collision (didn't say which one; gliders were anonymized) at a previous level 1 or 2 competition. It is unfortunate that they don't release such videos for contest organizers to use for safety talks unless it is at a L1 or 2 contest (I asked). It would be valuable for FAI/IGC to create a public place where all the glider pilots could benefit from the accounts. These lessons are paid for with the blood of our friends.