Glider pilot killed in freak accident during take-off

Senior News Reporter

Wednesday 5 September 2012

An experienced glider pilot has died following a freak accident which saw his aircraft flip over shortly after take-off.

wreckage: The glider that crashed, killing its pilot, lies in a field at the Portmoak Gliding Centre near Kinross awaiting air accident investigators. Picture: Mike Day

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Alison Campsie

The solo pilot was only seconds in to his flight when his privately-owned Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-3 crashed.

The man, in his late 40s, has not been officially identified but it is understood he was well known at the Scottish Gliding Centre, Portmoak Airport, Scotlandwell, near Kinross, where he died shortly after 1.30pm yesterday.

Fellow gliding centre members were in shock after the crash, which is now being probed by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), Civil Aviation Authority and Tayside Police.One said: "Everyone is in a state of shock. He was an experienced pilot – no-one really knows yet what happened." A spokesman for the British Gliding Association said: "This is a terrible tragedy. It happened within the airfield grounds during the launch phase of the flight. The glider was being winch-launched. From the start of the glider moving to being airborne is just a matter of seconds. The alarm would have been raised straight away."The spokesman said he could not recall such an accident happening elsewhere within the British Gliding Association.Footage of the accident, in which the victim was dragged upside down along the runway, was recorded on the centre's CCTV and is now being studied by accident investigators.The winch runs on a cable of up to 1500ft which helps the aircraft generate speed before lift off.The victim's Nimbus-3 glider is a popular German-made model, which is 25 yards long and can reach speeds of up to 170mph.Several people would have been at the scene at the time of the accident, with one technician running alongside the craft in the take-off phase and holding the wing tip until the pilot had enough speed to gain full control.A spokesman for Tayside Police said: "Emergency services attended at Portmoak Airport shortly after 1.30pm following reports of a serious crash involving a glider at the Portmoak Gliding Centre."One person, a man in his late 40s, was found within the upside- down Nimbus 3 aircraft and despite the efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene."It is understood the aircraft was in the process of taking off and had only been a matter of feet off the ground when the incident happened. No-one else was injured."The spokesman added: "Details of the deceased will not be released until next of kin have been fully informed and formal identification has taken place."The Scottish Gliding Centre declined to comment yesterday, as did a number of other gliding clubs.The fatality comes a month after glider pilot Ken Smith, 59, died when his aircraft plunged into a field on a farm near Forfar, Angus. Mr Smith, of Spittalfields, Perthshire, was flying solo when his glider spun out of control. He was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency crews.Mr Smith had been flying with Angus Gliding Club, which has an excellent safety record – as does Portmoak Gliding Centre.The AAIB – part of the Department for Transport and based in Farnborough, Hampshire – has dispatched officers to Portmoak to carry out analysis of the wrecked glider, which remains at the airfield.The British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA) launched a review into safety procedures earlier this year after a teenager was killed on her first solo flight.Lois Preston, from Warrington, Cheshire, died in hospital after the accident in Derbyshire on October 28 last year. An air accident report said she weighed less than the recommended pilot weight range for the glider.The BHPA launched a review into aerotowing procedures, and it is not known if strong winds had played a role in yesterday's launch crash.Hang gliding is not regulated in the UK but is conducted under the supervision of the BHPA, which oversees pilot and instructor training standards.

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Glider pilot killed in freak accident during take-off

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