A pilot is dead after he crashed his glider within sight of Goondiwindi on the Queensland/NSW border.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man who has not been named was taking part in the 37th National Gliding Championship and was one of the first to take off.
While he has not been named it has been confirmed the pilot is a Victorian man in his 70s with more than 20 years of flying experience.
He was flying a single-seat Jonker JS-1 which does have a motor.
Macintye Aero Club Captain, Ian Greenland was the first on the scene after hearing on the two-way the glider had come down a little more than 2km south of the Goondiwindi Aerodrome.
Mr Greenland said the ‘tug” pilot who was assisting gliders into the air raised the alarm.
“He wouldn’t have been in the air more than a minute,” Mr Greenland said.
Police and Queensland and NSW Fire Services attended and secured the site due to fears fuel could catch fire.
There was little left of the glider.
Mr Greenland said he went to assist, “you just had to go”, knowing the chances of the pilot being alive was small.
“There was nothing I could do,” he said.
It’s been reported that a witness said the glider "just looked like it fell out of the sky".
On Thursday, organisers were holding a meeting to decide whether the championships would go ahead.
The Championship are scheduled to continue until October 19. Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA) executive manager of operations Chris Thorpe told the ABC he knew the pilot personally and he was "very experienced".
"I've known him for 30 years and he was a very, very experienced glider pilot," he said. "We're such a close-knit community and obviously when something serious like this happens it hits us hard. "Our thoughts are with his family and friends."
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Barwon detectives or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The fatality comes less than three weeks after instructor Jeremy Thompson, 62, and student Norbert Gross, 60, died when their glider crashed near Dalby.