Glider crashed after pilot 'mixed up the controls'

A light aircraft crashed after a pilot inadvertently accelerated on descent, an investigation has found.

Two people were travelling in the Grob G109B motor glider when it struck a road near Stroud in Gloucestershire in August last year, causing both to need hospital treatment.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has now revealed that an experienced glider pilot had confused the control column for the air brake handle.

This caused a "rapid pitch down from approximately 100ft (30m) above ground level", the branch said, adding: "Neither of those aboard was able to take corrective action in the short time available."

The pilot, investigators said, was sitting in the passenger seat on the right of the glider, with the airbrake handle on their right and the control column on their left.

This arrangement was the reverse of what the pilot was used to, the investigation found.

As the glider came in to land at Aston Down Airfield, it hit trees adjacent to the A419 in Frampton Mansell before coming to rest on the carriageway.

The report concluded the incident happened as a result of lack of experience of flying that particular aircraft.

While the second person on the glider suffered minor injuries, the pilot was seriously injured and the incident led to the A419 being closed for several hours.

The aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair.

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