Accident to the Glasflügel 304 registered F-CEBU on 31/07/2025 at Sainte Marie de Cuines

After a four-hour cross-country flight in the Alps, the pilot encountered adverse air conditions for a thermo-dynamic flight  which did not allow him to use the dynamic uplifts. The glider’s altitude progressively decreased. The pilot decided to carry out a precautionary landing and, given the altitude of the glider, to head to Saint-Rémy-de Maurienne aerodrome, situated around 30 km away. At around 10 km from the aerodrome, in the presence of a strong northerly valley breeze, he encountered very strong downdrafts on the lee side of steep terrain, resulting in a sudden, quick loss of altitude. As he was no longer able to reach the aerodrome, he decided to carry out an off-field landing on the plain. The configuration of the valley forced him to choose a field late, leaving him little time to prepare his landing. During the approach, the pilot overshot the field he had envisaged using and was then surprised, at a low height, by the presence of a power line. The glider collided with a tree and then with the ground.