Everyone present witnessed it.
The glider fell down the cliff and out of their sight shortly after it left the runway. It happened so fast that no one had time to respond.
Roland also feared for their safety.
He had foreseen the possibility of all sorts of accidents during the trial. Although he had prepared more than one prototype in order to increase the flyer's experience with as many trials as possible, he did not expect the first crash to come so early.
In theory, the glider was slow, low-loaded, and easy to control. A little wind was able to maintain its airtime, making it very friendly to a new hand. In fact, there were only a few mistakes that could make the flyer lose control of the aircraft. Roland had emphasized these points whilst explaining the principles. This time, Wendy obviously lifted the aircraft's nose too high. As a result, the aircraft lost its original speed and started to drop.
