The police, emergency doctor, rescue and fire brigade were on high alert on Friday afternoon when the report came in at around 2:45 p.m. that a glider had crashed in a field in the village of Gopperding (municipality of St. Florian am Inn, district of Schärding). One person was on the plane, it said.
However, the 75-year-old German pilot had already been able to free himself from the cockpit of the two-seater glider when the rescue services arrived and was apparently uninjured. The experienced pilot stated that he had taken off from Suben airfield and was towed by another motorized aircraft. However, the targeted flight altitude of 1000 meters for releasing from the towing process was not reached.
At an altitude of about 500 meters, the tug would have overshot the glider and the two aircraft would have lost speed rapidly. To prevent an uncontrolled crash of both machines, the glider released. It was no longer possible for the pilot to reach the Suben take-off airfield from this altitude due to the poor thermals. He therefore tried to unfold the folding engine, which is used as an emergency engine in this type of glider, and start the engine. However, it could not be started immediately and the pilot initiated a so-called controlled outlanding.
The landing gear could also no longer be extended due to lack of time and because of the low flight altitude. The pilot had to maneuver the aircraft, which had a wingspan of 25 meters, under a power line in order to then be able to carry out the emergency landing on a corn field below. Property damage of an unknown amount was caused to the aircraft.
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