Hang glider pilot flew into windshear—report

Press, 12 August 1985, Page 2

Hang glider pilot flew into windshear—report

A hang glider pilot killed in an accident near Lyttelton last year had flown into a windshear, an air accident report has said.

The chief inspector of air accidents, Mr Ron Chippindale, said in his report to the Minister of Transport, that Lindsay Gerald Hay, aged 23, had been performing aerobatics at the time of the accident. He died after the Firebird Sierra hang glider he was flying nose-dived into the Port Hills 9km south-west of Lyttelton on December 1. Mr Hay was the New Zealand hang gliding champion and very experienced in performing low-level aerobatics, said Mr Chippindale.

The Canterbury Hang Gliding Club had arranged a competition day at the site. A strong north-easterly wind was blowing with gusts up to 35 knots before Mr Hay began his flight. He was the first into the air and the conditions had prevented less experienced pilots from flying. Another pilot found there was turbulence close to the hill, said Mr Chippindale.

Mr Hay was about 15m above the hill when he made a steeply banked left turn in front of the spectators and rolled out of the turn heading toward the hill.

He passed over the ridge and rolled the glider into a vertical bank to the right.

Part way through the turn, the glider’s nose dropped and it began a steep dive. Mr Chippindale said the pilot was able to raise the glider’s nose to a level pitch and to level the wings before hitting the ground. No evidence of pre-im-pact damage to the hang glider was found. Mr Hay might have unintentionally manoeuvred the glider into a hazardous area while his attention was focused on flying the glider in the strong winds, said Mr Chippindale. Flying aerobatics in the strong wind would have required considerable skill. It would have been difficult for the pilot to feel how the glider was flying in relation to airspeed, he said.