Dartmoor Glider accident

[mary meagher]

Matt Wright, well known for his superb gliding videos as Balleka, has been killed in a launch accident near Brent Tor in Devon.

He will be greatly missed at his club, the Devon and Somerset. After weeks of horrible weather, Sunday was a good day to fly; we can go now for a year or more without a fatal accident in UK gliding, and then two in one day in December.

Both will be investigated by the UKAAIB

[Jump Complete]

I didn't know Matt personally, but very sad to hear that. Condolences to his family (and, of course his friends at DSGC.)

[longer ron]

:( very sad .....

[Fly-by-Wife]

That is so very sad.

I loved his gliding videos - indeed it was through those that I was introduced to Hybrid's "Disappear Here" as the soundtrack to his marvellous video of beating up the ridge at Sidmouth.

Thank you Matt, blue skies.

FBW

[x933]

Mary - there has been at least one more fatal accident this year, an ASG29 going into a field near Preston Candover from Lasham.

This was terribly sad - Matt was a nice guy and an inspiration to many.

[deefer dog]

I didn't know Matt but just took a look at some of his you tube videos. He was obviously a talented pilot and film maker, and had great taste in music. May he rest in peace.

[dewidaniels]

I never had the pleasure of meeting Matt, but I enjoyed watching his YouTube videos very much. Friends who met him say he was a really nice person, always really cheerful.

[cats_five]

Matt was a great guy. As part of his club's expedition he visited us every year and we greatly enjoyed hosting them. So sorry, not only for Matt's immediate family & friends, but for the people at the launch point & winch - I believe it was a launch accident.

[lisa humphries]

Very Sad, Matt was a wonderful man, commercial pilot, glider pilot, film maker and cartoonist. He will be greatly missed by everyone at DSGC but remembered for everything he gave to the club and gliding in general.

[PLovett]

I was just watching one of his last videos on YouTube and was scanning the comments to find out that Matt had been killed. What tragic news.

Way back when he was flying for MK Airlines and was posting those incredible African videos I was moved to compliment him on his filming and editing skills and he was kind enough to respond. We had a few exchanges over the years as I often sought more information on his 747 videos and it now makes me very sad to think he is gone.

My condolences to his family and close friends.

[ChrisJ800]

Has anyone got any information on his accident yet? Structural or control failure? I loved his videos.

[dsc810]

There will be nothing until the AAIB report - which is usually around a year after the accident.
However there has been no CAA airworthiness directive I've heard of for immediate inspections of all other aircraft of the same type or of other types sharing some constructional aspect to the accident aircraft. That is a hint that a "problem" with the aircraft is not the cause.
That in turn leads one in the direction of human error either by the pilot himself or by the ground crew/winch driver or indeed medical incapacitation.

As regards the ASG29 accident mentioned earlier in the thread the AAIB reported on this in April this year
See report available at the linked page below
https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aaib-investigation-to-schleicher-asw-27-18e-asg-29e-glider-g-vlcc
In summary - the aircraft hit the ground in a dive with the engine extended and the AAIB are not really sure why - possibly of pilot medical incapacitation based on some odd aspects to the aerotow up seems to be the most likely.

[JammedStab]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsQowfCh6sE

[India Four Two]

AAIB accident report published:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a5f158c40f0b652634c6f36/Schleicher_ASW_24_G-CFNG_02-18.pdf

[RatherBeFlying]

I lost 285' in a vortex / downburst encounter from final at 300' AGL and remain most grateful that I avoided damage to myself and my glider.

There are a number of accidents, many fatal, where the atmosphere bit hard.

As with the AAIB report, my Oudie and Air Glide S provided data that permitted me to determine horizontal and vertical wind shears. A vortex can produce a shear twice the wind aloft:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1NeKc6B2S3XeDY0Q1Z6NXdsd2s

With other similar accidents I am aware of, the windshear is downwind of higher terrain or a large building. This accident is different in that the higher terrain is absent, but the air flow disturbance seems to have been generated by the change in slope profile.

[ChrisJ800]

I did one take off through rotor at Aboyne. Needed two hands on the stick to control. Wonder why Matt turned left (upwind) instead of to the right. More options when you turn downwind such as S turn ahead or landing cross strip without having to turn a full 360.

[Thud105]

Why did he turn at all? That is the more pertinent question. Straight ahead was the ONLY option that would work - IMHO.

[Cows getting bigger]

Back in the day I was a teenage air cadet intent on killing myself, we had very strict criteria to be applied on cable break. This particular event would have certainly been in the 'land ahead' box.

Sad. Hindsight is such a wonderful thing.

[Ridger]

Why did he turn at all?

We now know it was the wrong call but it made sense to the pilot at the time. The opportunity to take another launch and avoid a delay probably reinforced it.

RIP

[Thud105]

The weak link broke at very low level (below 200ft agl?) in very sporty conditions. How could turning have made sense at the time? Genuinely curious.

[robin]

Probably because that's what a previous pilot did.

[Thud105]

Seems incredible. I thought current thinking was to always go straight ahead unless you couldn't?

[snapper1]

Robin, perhaps but.....

Referring to the previous launch, this is what the AAIB report said.

''....the Discus exceeded the maximum launch speed for his aircraft and so released the winch cable, reaching a peak airspeed of approximately 100 kt and a height of 420 ft. At this point he felt he had plenty of energy in the glider to complete a circuit and so immediately turned left to head downwind''.

[dsc810]

just a few comments:

This was not the pilots home club so I suspect anyone less well known and experienced than him would have been refused a launch. Indeed the criterion in less than favourable weather for launching visiting pilots using their own aircraft might need to be formalised.

In my own past club with an active runway on the right when strong winds were blowing there was only one option if you needed to turn and that was left - you always turned left under all circumstances unless you landed ahead.
As it was the strongest winds were usually from the left-ahead quadrant so you were always turning into wind if you turned.

There is always some unspoken pressure at some clubs not to land ahead if you can turn due to the disruption this causes to the launches which then have to be held up while the glider is towed all the way back to the launch point.
I've certainly done a land ahead and stopped next to the winch - for which I was moaned at.
I'd agree with @Thud105 though that the very low break in high wind conditions land ahead seems the only option that would have made any sense.

The pilots log book was kept electronically and was unavailable: so says the report. That means it was password protected and the AAIB/relatives etc were unable to break into it. So this means we need "backdoors" written into such programs to let the AAIB/CAA etc obtain the flying record data.