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| Date: | Friday 24 January 1997 |
| Time: | 16:33 LT |
| Type: | Schleicher ASW 22 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | VH-UKG |
| MSN: | 22005 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Roseberry, VIC -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Horsham, Victoria (YHSM) |
| Horsham, Victoria (YHSM) | |
| Investigating agency: | BASI |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
During a competition, several high-performance single-seat gliders were flying on a triangular cross-country exercise in loose formation at between 2,500 and 3,000 ft AGL. VH-UKG (Schleicher ASW 22) was flying near the front of the group and began a left turn in search of rising air. At that time, VH-GWX (a Schempp-Hirth Nimbus 2C), which had recently joined the group, came alongside the left side of VH-UKG and began to pass.
The pilot of VH-UKG became aware of VH-GWX at the last moment and attempted to dive clear but the right wing of his glider, at about mid-span, struck the right side of the cockpit of VH-GWX.
VH-UKG became uncontrollable as the wing disintegrated, the pilot jettisoned the canopy and bailed out at low level, receiving serious injuries.
The other glider was seen to perform a looping-type manoeuvre and impact the ground in a near-vertical attitude at high speed. Although the pilot was wearing a parachute, he did not abandon the aircraft. The pilot received fatal injuries.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1997/AAIR/aair199700214.aspx
2. http://rcawsey.co.uk/asw22.htm
3. https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/24989/ASOR199700214.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Jan-2008 10:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 17-Jan-2009 01:01 | harro | Updated |
| 12-Nov-2011 11:12 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Operator, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 07-May-2014 20:08 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 09-Jun-2022 06:43 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, ] |
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