Glider lost a wing

Press, 29 May 1985, Page 12

Glider lost a wing

PA Wellington Excessive airspeed and wing failure probably caused the crash which killed a glider pilot, Earl Kenneth Rivers, near Masterton last July. In a report on the findings of the Office of Air Accidents Investigations, the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Mr Ron Chippindale, said neither pilot nor glider was to blame for the fatal accident which occurred soon after the glider

was released from the tow plane. Mr Rivers was a qualified, experienced pilot and his glider's certificate of airworthiness and maintenance release was valid. The report’s findings show the probable cause of the accident to be an uncontrollable spiral dive soon after release from tow which led to excessive airspeed and loss of a wing.

The tow pilot saw the glider from beneath the

cloud cover in a steep dive and missing a wing, the report said. The uncontrollable spiral dive accelerated the glider’s speed resulting in wing tip flutter and the eventual loss of the wing. The dive was the result of either pilot disorientation after entering cloud or incapacitation, and the pilot was unable to escape by parachute, the report concluded.