### Hazards - Glider becomes entangled with towline, leading to damage and/or loss of control - Towline can rapidly become taut again, leading to [[Towline Break]] and/or damage to glider or towplane ### Causes - Abrupt power reduction (or power loss) by towplane, leading to towplane deceleration - Aerotow descent, leading to glider acceleration - Glider turning inside towplane radius, see [[Maintaining Tow Positions#Turns]] - Abrupt recovery from out-of-center tow position (including [[Boxing the Wake]]) - Updrafts and downdrafts. In an updraft, the glider will climb higher/faster than the towplane, and will accelerate as it descends back to proper tow position. ### Corrective Action - Slipping; yaw the nose of the glider away from the towplane, neutralize rudder as towline becomes taut. Yaw of the glider (and towplane) will help to reduce shock on the towline. - Spoilers/dive brakes; similar principle as slipping, however, there is nothing to dampen the shock of the towline rapidly becoming taut. - Release; if the slack is excessive or safety is in question, perform [[Tow Release]] immediately ### Common Errors - Failure to take action at the first indication of slack line - Improper procedure to correct for slack line [<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Z1YCKUguR8?si=08l15cA-PXHc2hEJ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>]