September 19, 2017
Two men have died in a gliding crash on the Darling Downs.
The pair were in a glider which suddenly nosedived 50 feet into the ground during its landing approach to the Darling Downs Soaring Club’s airfield at Bowenville.
The incident occurred just before 10:00am on Tuesday.
The glider was on a training flight with a student, 60, from Jubilee Pocket, and a 62-year-old instructor, from the Darling Downs, on board.
The crash was witnessed by several people on the ground, including the wife of one of the victims.
Australian Gliding Federation executive manager operations Chris Thorpe said the instructor who had died was a very experienced pilot who had been with the club for a long time.
Ambulance paramedics, QFES personnel and police were called to the scene.
Paramedics attempted to revive the two men but they succumbed to their injuries while still in the aircraft.
Mr Thorpe said two investigators from the Australian Gliding Federation were heading to Bowenville to join police in investigating the cause of the crash.
He stressed that a sudden nosedive while landing was extremely unusual for a glider and at the moment no one could understand what had happened.
The last fatal glider crash in Australia occurred in January 2015 in Benalla in Victoria.
Mr Thorpe said the gliding community was a very small one and many people would be affected by this latest incident.
“Our thoughts are with the all the family members and friends,” he said.
