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Official
Statement: Norman Lausch's accident
Norman Lausch
Norman was flying and testing a prototype when the accident happened.
All the lines broke and Norman free fell without opening his rescue.
Following the reports of witnesses, it seems that Norman was in a heavy
spiral dive when the lines broke.
Other people speak about a front collapse after the spiral dive. No one
can confirm this. We do not know exactly what happened in flight, no one
saw the complete process of the accident.
But we do know exactly why the lines broke.
The prototype was equiped with standard sheathed 1.6 mm Aramid
(Technora) lines. These lines have a strength of about 200 kg after
sewing.
These lines have a strength of about 200 kg after sewing.
Norman made 3 knots on every main line to trim the wing. These 3 single
knots reduce the line strength by more than 70%. The lines broke exactly
above one of the knots.
The advice from Housi Bollinger in the morning was to reduce the line
lengths by making a knot in the stitched area and by making an extra
loop at the maillons, this would have been the normal, safe way Norman
and other GIN test pilots use for this kind of modification.
We have made some breaking strength tests to find the effect of knots on
the strength of the line material used on the prototype flown by Norman.
1)- Line sewn as used in production; strength 195 kg; rupture at the end
of the stitches; very high strength
2)- Line with 1 knot in the double part where it is stitched (as
proposed by Housi); strength 119 kg; rupture at the knot; strength still
sufficient
3)- Line with 1 knot in the main part of the line ; strength 64 kg;
rupture at the knot; strength not sufficient
4)- Line with 3 knots in the main part of the line ( as flown by Norman
) ; strength 62 kg; rupture in the knot; strength not sufficient
We know that Norman as a professional test pilot was aware that knots
reduce the strength of lines significantly.
Moreover Norman was responsible at GIN Gliders for testing the line
breaking strength and stretching. With the R&D department, he was also
in charge of safety matters, to find the optimum way to sew a line
depending on the diameter to obtain maximum strength, to test the aging
of products and materials, to communicate with the test laboratories for
the certification testing, especially load and shock test, etc…
Norman took care of a lot of the safety aspects of our products for the
pilot : it was the main objective of his job. As a test pilot, he was
probably not aware so much for himself, believing that the lines would
be strong enough for this flight and anyway, that he would be able to
manage the worst case situation.
Norman’s high experience, serious attitude and his high level of
professionalism make this incident even more difficult to understand and
accept this tragic loss.
The lines broke 150 m above the ground, it means 3 to 4 seconds before
the impact. This time is too short to deploy and open the rescue. In
this type of accident it is also very hard to find the rescue handle to
deploy the reserve.
Norman worked hard and with great passion to help produce high quality
and safe gliders for all pilots.
We are missing our friend.
GIN staff. |
