Fatal crash Arizona

Premature termination of the tow at 100ft. Did not complete the turn back to the runway.

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2014/0...izona.html?m=1

Boggs

On Saturday, May 3, 2014 9:27:10 PM UTC-7, Waveguru wrote:
Premature termination of the tow at 100ft. Did not complete the turn back to the runway.



http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2014/0...izona.html?m=1



Boggs

UPDATE..... http://www.abc15.com/news/region-cen...a-glider-crash

Glider was a Zuni. Crash not observed by any glider pilots. Tow pilot felt the sudden lack of pull behind him, circled back and observed the wreckage a bit east of the runway among homes and bushes. Bummer day.

Retired Major General Robert Knauff had nearly 4,000 hours flight time, but was fairly new to soaring. He bought his Zuni last year, was checked out and did his first flight at Tucson Soaring Club. In the past week, he flew four decent cross-country flights from Sampley's airport and was reportedly really getting into flying it.

No club members witnessed the accident, but it occurred after a presumably unintentional tow release at around 100 feet.

Article from his home town he

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.s...der_crash.html

Mike

Glider was a Zuni. Crash not observed by any glider pilots. Tow pilot felt the sudden lack of pull behind him, circled back and observed the wreckage a bit east of the runway among homes and bushes. Bummer day.


My condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Knauff.
Is it known whether the tow rope failed or did it come out of the release? Just curious.
Uli

The rope was intact. We don't know what caused the release. I'm not even sure we know if he turned back or rotated 180 during the spin. No pilot saw what happened.

Boggs

On Tuesday, May 6, 2014 1:42:53 PM UTC-5, Waveguru wrote:
The rope was intact. We don't know what caused the release. I'm not even sure we know if he turned back or rotated 180 during the spin. No pilot saw what happened.



Boggs

I heard Tom Knauff speak at the Senior Soaring Championships in March about in flight medical issues. (A great presentation by the way.)

One possibility is that Bob Knauff was experiencing a medical emergency and, in a last act of heroism, released to save the tow pilot.

We may never know but if this is the case, hats off to General Knauff.

Lou

While in no way do I wish to speculate on the cause of this accident or
indeed suggest that my comments in any way address the cause of this
accident.
I feel that comment is needed on some of the things said here. We have a
rule here in the UK, launch failure on aerotow below 300ft a landing should
be made ahead, or slightly to one side. No attempt should be made to turn
back below this height.
The reason is simple, a controlled crash into difficult terrain is likely
to result in a better outcome than an uncontrolled arrival on the airfield.
The important bit to keep intact is the bit you are sitting in, the rest of
the glider does not really matter too much. The best chance of achieving
that is flying to the ground with the wings level. It has only happened to
me once, there was a field ahead but it was full of the Tiger Moth tug that
had landed in the middle. I discovered that there was just enough space for
a Skylark 2 as well. I have no doubt that a turn back would have resulted
in an accident. I was at 250ft agl max.
If there really is nowhere to land ahead you should really ask the
question, "should I be taking a launch".
Frankly I would be horrified to be required to conduct a turn back at
200ft, I would suggest that this is one of those occasions where the danger
of practice is to great to justify.

On Sunday, May 4, 2014 12:27:10 AM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:
Premature termination of the tow at 100ft. Did not complete the turn back to the runway.

My sympathy to everyone touched by this tragedy.

Turning 180 back to the runway from only 100 feet AGL is unusual. I wonder why he did that.

On Monday, May 5, 2014 3:16:03 PM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Sunday, May 4, 2014 12:27:10 AM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:

Premature termination of the tow at 100ft. Did not complete the turn back to the runway.



My sympathy to everyone touched by this tragedy.


Because it was not adequately drilled into his head during training and subsequent retraining that you can't make that turn back safely.
UH

On Monday, May 5, 2014 3:30:29 PM UTC-4, wrote:

Because it was not adequately drilled into his head during training and subsequent retraining that you can't make that turn back safely.

Will the NTSB look in his log book for a self-induced PTOT(aka simulated PTOT for training purposes)?