Accident to the glider Schempp Hirth janus CE registered F-CJML on 15/07/2022 at Saint-Anthème

This is a courtesy translation by the BEA of the Final Report on the Safety Investigation published in October 2022. As accurate as the translation may be, the original text in French is the work of reference. (October 2022)

Note: the following information is principally based on statements made by the pilot. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.

1. History of the flight

The pilot, accompanied by a passenger[1], took off from Roanne airport at around 14:15 for a round trip passing near the town of Le Puy. At about 16:20, after two hours of flight, the glider was about 22 km north of the town of Le Puy, at an altitude of 2,600 m. The pilot decided to turn around and took a north-north-west route to follow a line of cumulus. As they flew, the cumulus disappeared and the pilot noticed that he was leeward of the terrain, in a downdraft and that the fields listed as suitable for a precautionary landing were no longer accessible. He realised that most of the fields around his position had been harvested and were cluttered with bales of straw. He chose to land on the upper part of a field which he did not know was uneven. During the landing, the glider's rear fuselage was damaged.

2. Additional information

The only damage reported by the pilot was to the fuselage of the glider which was cracked in several places.

The 64-year-old pilot held a glider pilot's licence issued in 2013 and had logged around 1,000 glider flight hours.

The aerological conditions noted by the pilot were as follows: CAVOK, presence of cloud streets, light NW wind
of 5kt.