Glider Crash - Melton Mowbray
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Very sad stories . From my experience ( over 50 years of gliding ) I do not buy in general the “heart attack “stories .they just surface when we have no explanation , and run out of hypotheses especially if the guy was a very experienced pilot .
Gliding accidents are very different from other general aviation ones, and those happening in competitions, are nearly all fully preventable if the comp rules were followed to the letter .
I do not do comps anymore , and since a few years now even refuse to tow during competitions.
Am not going to expand why here , off topic
.
But one last remark on Farm not working :
In Oshkosh, a few weeks ago there was only one glider on exhibition , at the SSA ( US Soaring Society ) stand , a ASG29 if my memory is correct, talked to its owner , looked at the cockpit to check instrumentation , and noticed a switch in the middle of the panel : FLARM on/off . I asked why : “sometimes i do not want others to see where I am “
.
Gliding accidents are very different from other general aviation ones, and those happening in competitions, are nearly all fully preventable if the comp rules were followed to the letter .
I do not do comps anymore , and since a few years now even refuse to tow during competitions.
Am not going to expand why here , off topic
.
But one last remark on Farm not working :
In Oshkosh, a few weeks ago there was only one glider on exhibition , at the SSA ( US Soaring Society ) stand , a ASG29 if my memory is correct, talked to its owner , looked at the cockpit to check instrumentation , and noticed a switch in the middle of the panel : FLARM on/off . I asked why : “sometimes i do not want others to see where I am “
.
My last uk club both the CFI, a nationals pilot, forgot to connect the elevator which was found just before he aerotowed in a comp by a junior trying to spook him by wiggling the control surface. At a safari to Aboyne an ascat aerotowed twice and ended up in the rough without his elevator connected.
The owner of Killkenny died in a B4 from a heart failure.
He had been unable to pass a medical for many years.
I was involved in the search and rescue for a close friend in his early 40s..I thought he was bipolar but was asked to translate the autopsy which stated he had an earlier heart attack within the last month
His paragliding logger led us to believe that he had hit the mountain whilst flying 360s but the autopsy said he was already dead.
This last incident led me to rethink papa India which killed my mate..I had seen Stan key the day before arguing in the crew room and thought he was off his trolley..my friend occasionally exhibited similar behaviour.
The owner of Killkenny died in a B4 from a heart failure.
He had been unable to pass a medical for many years.
I was involved in the search and rescue for a close friend in his early 40s..I thought he was bipolar but was asked to translate the autopsy which stated he had an earlier heart attack within the last month
His paragliding logger led us to believe that he had hit the mountain whilst flying 360s but the autopsy said he was already dead.
This last incident led me to rethink papa India which killed my mate..I had seen Stan key the day before arguing in the crew room and thought he was off his trolley..my friend occasionally exhibited similar behaviour.
Thought police antagonist
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Rigging accidents....why does the term "duplicate inspection " come to mind
Unexplained accidents
Unfortunately it does happen as besides the two deaths in flight I mentioned in Ireland I discovered the body of a fellow club uk member who had collapsed walking back out to the K6 I had recently flown; he had been into ballroom dancing and had visited his GP several times complaining of chest pains and told there was nothing to worry about.
Another acquaintance had had a stress ECG six weeks before he flew the DC10 from his base in Toronto to Gatwick..went shopping and died as he left the supermarket in Crawley.
A mate took over on the DC9 when the skipper collapsed at the controls on final approach.
‘Another did a tail scrape when the captain who was setting the power went into a trance.
The most recent was an old mate who started off flying fighters in the malitia..flag carrier..and ended up flying for a Chinese Billionaire, he exhibited some strange behaviour including hiding in the toilet when the bill came, flew to Peking and died in his hotel room.
Stress does funny things to the ticker and I once had a stress cardio which was delayed until a full resus team arrived as a previous victim had died (was after a long bout of health problems which no one was able to diagnose - probably linked to neurotoxins).
Another acquaintance had had a stress ECG six weeks before he flew the DC10 from his base in Toronto to Gatwick..went shopping and died as he left the supermarket in Crawley.
A mate took over on the DC9 when the skipper collapsed at the controls on final approach.
‘Another did a tail scrape when the captain who was setting the power went into a trance.
The most recent was an old mate who started off flying fighters in the malitia..flag carrier..and ended up flying for a Chinese Billionaire, he exhibited some strange behaviour including hiding in the toilet when the bill came, flew to Peking and died in his hotel room.
Stress does funny things to the ticker and I once had a stress cardio which was delayed until a full resus team arrived as a previous victim had died (was after a long bout of health problems which no one was able to diagnose - probably linked to neurotoxins).
Rigging accidents....why does the term "duplicate inspection " come to mind
The BGA recommend that after a glider has been rigged that all the flying controls be checked with the assistance of a second person to verify that they are connected and operating in the correct direction. In my club the club's hangared gliders are also checked the same way before flying each day even when they have not been rigged since last checked. Most pilots are pretty diligent about this. When problems arise it is often when the daily inspection has been interrupted and something gets missed. Other pilots should never interrupt anybody doing a DI.
I received a rollicking after instructing on a K13 in Ireland. The glider had been flown the previous day some time after re rigging. We had an ammo box for the spanners and lead hammer which was checked after rigging religiously. I did everything before flying except turning myself upside down and peering under the seat..if I had I would have found a 22mm spanner which had been flown around for the last week.
We bought a K21 from Germany and a while later a mate who spent lots of money onto become British champion did some negative stuff then tried to pull out..Two pairs of hands bent an eight millimetre spanner left by the germans under the seat pan after they decided to remove an instrument after the sale was agreed.
I imported a B4 AF from germany..the mandatory airbrake mod hadn't been done correctly nor had our clubs..Dietmar Pole noticed it whilst doing a repair.
In my youth I got stuck in a spin between cloud layers whilst flying a Condor..unbeknown some clown had adjusted the differential brakes which had restricted rudder movement. I noticed the lack of complete rudder authority but thought it would be safe along as I didn't demand a 3 turn spin from my student in the opposite direction. I was wrong.
One can only do ones best and the rest is in the hands of the gods.
I could go on but the Mrs says I do that too much ready.
My friend owned a Beech Baron and renewed his IR rating and medical with ecg etc as usual. The following day he complained of feeling unwell and sat down in his kitchen chair. As his wife turned to answer him he slipped off the chair with a massive cardiac event and was dead before he hit the floor. You never know the moment ...
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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. 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. 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. The weather is definitely playing a factor in these crashes but the last few days have been exceptional cross country flying conditions.
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It does. Years ago I found a race meet at the sailing club had finished very early. Turned out one of the competitors had collapsed in his boat and died despite a decent attempt at CPR. It was said later he was probably dead before he hit the floor boards in the dinghy.
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A first post and with that username, I had already disregarded the post and I believe the AIIB will do the same .
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Very sad stories . From my experience ( over 50 years of gliding ) I do not buy in general the “heart attack “stories .they just surface when we have no explanation , and run out of hypotheses especially if the guy was a very experienced pilot .
Gliding accidents are very different from other general aviation ones, and those happening in competitions, are nearly all fully preventable if the comp rules were followed to the letter .
I do not do comps anymore , and since a few years now even refuse to tow during competitions.
Am not going to expand why here , off topic
.
But one last remark on Farm not working :
In Oshkosh, a few weeks ago there was only one glider on exhibition , at the SSA ( US Soaring Society ) stand , a ASG29 if my memory is correct, talked to its owner , looked at the cockpit to check instrumentation , and noticed a switch in the middle of the panel : FLARM on/off . I asked why : “sometimes i do not want others to see where I am “
.
Gliding accidents are very different from other general aviation ones, and those happening in competitions, are nearly all fully preventable if the comp rules were followed to the letter .
I do not do comps anymore , and since a few years now even refuse to tow during competitions.
Am not going to expand why here , off topic
.
But one last remark on Farm not working :
In Oshkosh, a few weeks ago there was only one glider on exhibition , at the SSA ( US Soaring Society ) stand , a ASG29 if my memory is correct, talked to its owner , looked at the cockpit to check instrumentation , and noticed a switch in the middle of the panel : FLARM on/off . I asked why : “sometimes i do not want others to see where I am “
.
Last edited by dash34; 23rd Aug 2023 at 17:34. Reason: Clarification
I think the company is called 'FLARM Technology AG' since it is registered in Switzerland.
Why is it a scam for three people to come up with an idea to improve safety, create a product to implement their idea and sell it with their creative rights being protected? That's the way most commercial companies work. Patents and registered designs etc. exist to protect designer’s /inventor's rights. Why is FLARM Technology AG a scam for operating like most mainstream businesses?
Why is it a scam for three people to come up with an idea to improve safety, create a product to implement their idea and sell it with their creative rights being protected? That's the way most commercial companies work. Patents and registered designs etc. exist to protect designer’s /inventor's rights. Why is FLARM Technology AG a scam for operating like most mainstream businesses?
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Flight privacy is used by FLARM Tech Ltd as an excuse for requiring people to buy their hardware and/or software rather than allowing open implementation.
For some reason this privacy isn't private from anyone prepared to pay FLARM £2,000 for their receiver and app.
And the CAA seems happy to go along with, and even fund, this scam.
For some reason this privacy isn't private from anyone prepared to pay FLARM £2,000 for their receiver and app.
And the CAA seems happy to go along with, and even fund, this scam.
Flarm
https://www.xctracer.com/en/product-page/xc-tracer-maxx
I have this kit for around 600 quid..iirc my first Flarm rx cost around £300.
it’s got Fanet? Multiple gps..accelerometers..terrain data base ..vario ..baro and beeps..
on top of this it can be linked to a pretty screen or a paper type reader which one can load airspace into - and see in sunlight.
My first logger, around 5 times this price was faulty and didn’t do a lot ..still easier to use than smoking and winding a barograph..
The CAA even gave me a couple of hundred quid back as they were promoting in for flight safety.
I have this kit for around 600 quid..iirc my first Flarm rx cost around £300.
it’s got Fanet? Multiple gps..accelerometers..terrain data base ..vario ..baro and beeps..
on top of this it can be linked to a pretty screen or a paper type reader which one can load airspace into - and see in sunlight.
My first logger, around 5 times this price was faulty and didn’t do a lot ..still easier to use than smoking and winding a barograph..
The CAA even gave me a couple of hundred quid back as they were promoting in for flight safety.