Originally Posted by
GLIDERSEEKER
I am currently crewing for a glider in the same comp that this incident happened in. It was a tough day for everyone, especially after hearing the news.
I'm competing in the same comp. It's a really terrible thing to have happened and as I'm sure you can all imagine it's had a big impact on us all. Many of us knew the pilot concerned, some very well. I've heard reports from other pilots who witnessed the collision and resulting crash, but really all we know for sure is that the collision happened a little under 2000' and when a number of gliders were sharing a weak thermal. The conditions up at Melton Mowbray at the time were marginal (I know, I was there) and so there was a lot of "gaggling".
This accident is pilot error, as you should never get that close to a glider in the air. It’s likely either the pilot who crashed or the one who landed was looking at their instruments in a thermal and wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.
I really must push back on what you're saying here. Firstly, any pilot in this comp at this level will be very experienced and will not be peering at instruments excessively, especially if the thermal is busy. It does service to no one to jump to conclusions about lack of awareness or paying too much attention to instruments. Secondly, flying close to other gliders is something that glider pilots do, esp in competitions where there are many gliders doing the same task. As such, collision is a significant risk and any comp pilot will be more than aware of the dangers and will accept them. It is totally the wrong conclusion to draw here that either pilot was flying beyond what is normal behaviour for this type of flying competition.
He was very respected in the scottish gliding community and all scottish pilots remaining in the comp have picked up their trailers and left. We know as much as the media do on the state of the pilot, but the fact he didn't use his parachute before crashing means it’s likely he didn't survive.
Yes, I agree. It's a terrible tragedy.
The weather is definitely playing a factor in these crashes but the last few days have been exceptional cross country flying conditions.
I dispute both your claims here. We can't say for sure that the weather played a factor in this crash. And it is NOT true that the last few days have been "exceptional". In fact, they are no better than average (in any normal summer), as reflected by tasks of under 300km in both the A and B classes.