Gliding probe finds crash was not mechanical error
Investigators now waiting on coroner
INVESTIGATORS attempting to piece together how a glider crashed and killed two people in Bowenville on Tuesday have ruled out mechanical error.
Regional operations manager for the Gliding Federation of Australia Ivor Harris, one of a number of agencies assisting authorities, said that mechanical error was no longer a line of inquiry.
“According to our investigation into the wreck there was nothing to suggest equipment or structural failure in the plane itself,” he said.
“It wasn’t weather-related and it wasn’t an aerodynamic event like a storm or wind.
“Having said that, what actually caused the glider to depart from a normal approach and dive into the
ground, we don’t know.”
Jeremy Thompson, 62, from Gatton, and his student Norbert Gross, 60, of Airlie Beach, were both killed when their glider appeared to nosedive from 15 metres in the air.
Mr Thompson’s wife, Jenny, had been piloting the tow plane that took the glider up.
Mr Thompson, who was a
chief flying instructor at the Darling Downs Soaring Club where the incident occurred, was teaching Mr Gross in his third lesson when their plane inadvertently crashed into a nearby cultivated paddock.
Mr Harris said that more answers would be revealed after the coroner’s report was completed, but confirmed that Mr Thompson, who was piloting the plane, had passed a medical test deeming him fit to fly.
“It is possible that both pilots had hands on the controls...that would seem a likely scenario,” he said.
“A medical catastrophe seems to be the likely direction for the investigation now.
“A double fatality is, of course, worrying but there is not much more we can do at the moment as there is no reasonable explanation other than a medical catastrophe.”
The Darling Downs Soaring club remains closed and the club is flying its flags at half-mast as a sign of respect.
Investigations are continuing.