History of the Flights
The Cessna 150L (G-CSFC) was on a training flight from Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield to Leicester Airport, with an instructor and student. It took off at 1206 hrs, flying at approximately 2,500 ft on a track of about 025°(M). The weather was good. They contacted Coventry ATC for a basic service. As they approached Husbands Bosworth Airfield, they altered heading and flew between the airfield and Market Harborough. While monitoring other traffic, the student pilot tuned the radio to Leicester frequency and transmitted. On looking up, he saw a glider almost directly ahead at the same level. The instructor also saw the glider. Both pilots thought they became aware of the glider simultaneously. The glider appeared nose-on at very close range. The instructor made an instinctive nose-down and left roll input. There was a loud bang, and they collided. The Cessna sustained damage to its right wing and continued to Leicester, landing without further incident.
The glider SZD-51-1 Junior (G-CLJK) departed Husbands Bosworth Airfield at 1217 hrs on an aerotow launch to about 3,700 ft. The pilot had attended a morning briefing and flown two instructional flights earlier. He asked for revision on the glider, noting the radio was not receiving. He accepted the unserviceability. After release, the glider flew generally north, then turned right onto a steady track of about 220°(M), heading back toward the airfield, on a collision course with G-CSFC. About 24 seconds elapsed between the turn and the collision.
Eyewitness Accounts
Witnesses included occupants of a light helicopter (G-ORBK) and two light aircraft. The helicopter pilot saw the glider in straight and level flight at less than 0.5 nm range, and a powered aircraft approaching heading north. He thought he saw a tug and glider combination. At collision, an outer section of the glider's left wing folded back. The powered aircraft dived away, and the glider rolled and entered a steep nose-down attitude with rolling/spinning motion. After two to three seconds, the left outer wing section broke away.
The pilot of G-BOPA, following a similar track to G-CSFC but 0.4 nm behind and 1,000 ft lower, saw a glider with part of a wing missing descending in a tumbling motion. She did not realize it was a collision and had not been aware of G-CSFC.
The pilot of G-BDIE saw the glider descending spinning, with a wing section detaching after two to three rotations. A passenger thought he saw a glider and tug combination.
Search and Rescue Activities
After the collision, the Cessna instructor alerted the Leicester air/ground operator. The pilot of G-BDIE broadcast a pan-pan urgency call at 1231 hrs while orbiting the accident site. The Distress and Diversion Cell alerted the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre. Husbands Bosworth Airfield confirmed the crashed glider likely came from there with one person on board. An air ambulance landed at the accident site at 1249 hrs, where it was established that the pilot had not survived.
Recorded Information
Recorded radar information (Mode A and C) was available for G-CSFC from multiple ground-based sites, providing an almost complete record of the flight.
Injuries and Damage
The glider pilot sustained fatal injuries; the Cessna crew (two) were uninjured. G-CLJK was destroyed; G-CSFC suffered major damage to its right wing.
Investigation Conclusion
The investigation concluded that neither pilot saw the other aircraft in sufficient time to take effective avoiding action.