Airprox, Alexander Schleicher AS-21 and Cessna 172M Skyhawk, near Biddinghuizen
The airspace around Biddinghuizen glider airfield below 1,500 feet AMSL is classified as Class G airspace. In this airspace, pilots of VFR air traffic are personally responsible for maintaining separation from other air traffic. This airprox demonstrates the limitations of the ‘see-and-avoid’ principle in VFR airspace. Pilots in VFR airspace are required to maintain a safe separation between aircraft through visual observation in which good attention sharing and scanning techniques12 are vitally important.
In order to reduce the risk of a collision or an airprox between a motorised aircraft and a glider above or near a glider airfield, it is recommended that the locations where gliders can be winch launched (and/or tow launched) and their immediate vicinity are avoided, and not overflown (under all circumstances not below the heights, indicated in the AIP, that a glider can reach during a winch launch).
More about this incident can be found in the Quarterly Aviation Report Q1 2022.
