West Sussex glider lost control twice before fatal crash

A glider pilot lost control of his aircraft twice before hitting trees and the ground in a fatal accident.

On 5 June 2024 the Mini Nimbus C glider suffered “catastrophic” damage after crashing into high trees near Crouch Lane in Barlavington, West Sussex, resulting in injuries that were likely “immediately or very quickly fatal”.

A report from the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) concluded that the pilot, a 73-year-old retired doctor, had not been attempting to land and was trying to gain height before the crash.

The report also found that the pilot was involved in another late landing a fortnight before the fatal crash having first tried to land in a field with school children in.

Weather conditions at the time of the crash were described as “marginal” but “challenging”.

The AAIB found that the pilot took off from Southdown Gliding Club in Pulborough at around 08:00 BST for a planned five-hour flight but turned back 30 minutes into the journey.

One witness said the pilot said he intended to fly cross-country since “soaring locally for five hours would become boring”.

After gradually losing height, the pilot successfully regained some altitude but suffered two losses of control where his aircraft stalled and suffered a “wing drop”, where the aircraft rolls to one side.

Despite regaining control of the glider, the aircraft clipped the top of 50ft (15.2m) tall trees before crashing to the ground at 10:13 BST.

Members of the gliding club noticed that the glider’s tracker had appeared to have stopped at 13:30, but assumed that the pilot had landed and was arranging his own recovery as this was normal practice.

When the pilot had not returned later that afternoon the glider club sent out a search flight and declared a mayday shortly before 17:00.

A dog walker found the crashed glider and the pilot unresponsive shortly before this and called emergency services.

The pilot’s family stated that he took a “very responsible attitude to flying”, with witnesses stating he did not seem unwell before the crash.

A medical declaration form completed by the pilot stated that he had been taking blood pressure medication which can cause dizziness and nausea, but there was no suggestion he had been suffering with this prior to the flight.

The report concluded, however, that a health issue contributing to the crash “could not be ruled out”.