Pilot killed in glider air show
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
02.06.2014 08:45
A pilot was killed on Sunday after a collision between two gliders during the Jantar Cup in Pila, central Poland, in the second accident at the event over the weekend.
Wreckage of one of the gliders in Pila, Sunday. Photo: PAP/Jakub Kaczmarczyk
Sunday's collision occurred shortly before 1 pm local time, and witnesses have commented that the 49-year-old's parachute failed to open.
Both gliders fell on the town itself, and the second pilot, whose parachute opened, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The dead man was from Krakow, and he had been representing an aviation club from Czestochowa at the event.
Prosecutor Maria Wierzejewska-Raczynska noted that the precise circumstances of the accident will become clearer once the black boxes have been studied.
She also revealed that the event organisers will be investigated, as the accident demonstrated that town residents' lives had been endangered by the tournament.
On Saturday, two gliders collided but the pilots' parachutes opened and both men escaped without serious injuries.
The State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation (PKBWL) is now responsible for determining the causes of both accidents. (nh)
Source: IAR