Narrative:

During the third and final flight for a private pilot's flight review; the private pilot had control of the glider and performed a normal takeoff and tow. At approximately 300 ft AGL; turbulence caused a slack rope situation in which the glider became slightly high on tow and offset to the right of the tow plane. The private pilot performed a forward slip to remedy the slack rope. At the same time; the tow plane began a turn to the right; toward the slack rope; further exacerbating the slack rope situation. It became clear that the slack would not come out of the line safely; and the line was hanging dangerously close to the left wingtip; which was deflected downward and rotated forward due to the right rudder applied during the forward slip. I realized that the rope would either damage the glider if it contacted the wing during recovery; or it would induce a rope break due to the extreme amount of slack. To prevent the possibility of structural damage from the hanging tow rope snapping back violently; potentially grabbing the left wing; I released the tow rope. The private pilot maintained the flight controls and executed a turn back toward the airport. It became clear to both of us that we would not be able to clear the trees back to the airport; and we were over a soybean field at the time. At that time; I took the flight controls and descended into the soybean field. The terrain was irregular and the crop was high; and the right wing was grabbed by the crop during the flare; causing a ground loop to the right. Both of the occupants were uninjured. Upon examination; the nose wheel and tailwheel had sustained damage; and the left wing tip had cracked.the sound judgment used by both the CFI and the private pilot ensured that immediate action could be taken to land in a safe area and maintain control. Because a decision to execute an off-field landing was made quickly; both occupants walked away completely unharmed and the glider sustained no major damage.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Glider instructor reported the glider was affected by turbulence on initial climb and caused unacceptable slack in the tow rope. Instructor detached from tow plane at a low altitude which resulted in an off-field landing. Aircraft sustained minor damage.

Narrative: During the third and final flight for a private pilot's flight review; the private pilot had control of the glider and performed a normal takeoff and tow. At approximately 300 ft AGL; turbulence caused a slack rope situation in which the glider became slightly high on tow and offset to the right of the tow plane. The private pilot performed a forward slip to remedy the slack rope. At the same time; the tow plane began a turn to the right; toward the slack rope; further exacerbating the slack rope situation. It became clear that the slack would not come out of the line safely; and the line was hanging dangerously close to the left wingtip; which was deflected downward and rotated forward due to the right rudder applied during the forward slip. I realized that the rope would either damage the glider if it contacted the wing during recovery; or it would induce a rope break due to the extreme amount of slack. To prevent the possibility of structural damage from the hanging tow rope snapping back violently; potentially grabbing the left wing; I released the tow rope. The private pilot maintained the flight controls and executed a turn back toward the airport. It became clear to both of us that we would not be able to clear the trees back to the airport; and we were over a soybean field at the time. At that time; I took the flight controls and descended into the soybean field. The terrain was irregular and the crop was high; and the right wing was grabbed by the crop during the flare; causing a ground loop to the right. Both of the occupants were uninjured. Upon examination; the nose wheel and tailwheel had sustained damage; and the left wing tip had cracked.The sound judgment used by both the CFI and the private pilot ensured that immediate action could be taken to land in a safe area and maintain control. Because a decision to execute an off-field landing was made quickly; both occupants walked away completely unharmed and the glider sustained no major damage.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.