THE death of a Fourstones pilot whose glider crashed near Hedley on the Hill was caused by an historic modification to his aircraft, an inquest heard.
Tony Anderson (62) sustained fatal injuries in the accident at Currock Hill, near Hedley on the Hill, on April 8, 2017.
The inquest on Thursday, at Howard House in North Shields, heard that Mr Anderson had 30 years of experience in commercial flying and had taken up gliding as a hobby in 2014.
Coroner Eric Armstrong said that on the day of the accident, Mr Anderson’s glider had taken off and climbed rapidly, before appearing to drop its right wing and descend nose first.
Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton gave the cause of death for Mr Anderson as torso injuries.
An investigation was undertaken by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), which revealed that elevator control connection had not been correctly made when the glider was rigged.
As a result, the aircraft would have had no effective elevator control and the pilot would have been unable to control the pitch of the glider.
The inquest heard that the elevator leaver slot was found to have been substantially larger than the original construction standards.
It was said this significantly increased the opportunity for mis-rigging.
An historic and unapproved modification to the glider had been made many years before Mr Anderson bought it, the investigation found.
Mr Armstrong said that Mr Anderson purchased the glider in 2015 and the previous owners had purchased it in 2005 from a sales agent who acquired it in France.
Despite the modification, Mr Armstrong had flown the glider numerous times and had not encountered any problems rigging it. Mr Armstrong said that Mr Anderson would have been unaware the glider had been previously modified.
“The clear explanation for the lack of control which Tony sadly had on take-off that day is some alteration to the aircraft which had been carried out prior to 2006 and which meant that mis-rigging was more possible,” he explained.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Armstrong added: “There is no question of Tony deliberately ignoring a faulty mechanism or misadventure – taking a risk willingly. This was a dreadful accident.
“He believed he was going to have an enjoyable flight in an aircraft which was perfectly safe to fly.”
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