Pilot Injured, But Expected To Make Full Recovery

The pilot of a stunt glider performing for the Swift Aerobatic Display Team at Shoreham, West Sussex in the UK was injured when the aircraft went down after he cut his performance short.

Swift S-1 G-IZII File Photo

The glider pilot, Mike Newman, was to have performed with two powered aircraft during the Royal Air Forces Air Show on August 22nd in his Swift S-1 G-IZII glider. But the weather on the show day was dominated by a low overcast, so the glider reportedly performed for less than five minutes before releasing its tow line and attempting to return to the airport.

Multiple media sources including the Mail and the Daily Telegraph indicated that 15,000 people watched as the glider made its approach, but on final it apparently stalled and entered a nearly vertical dive towards the runway. A series of photographs shows the port wing hitting the pavement, then the nose of the aircraft shattering as the canopy pops off, and finally the aircraft on the ground, fortunately right-side-up, with Newman still in the cockpit.

Newman, who was the 2008 and 2009 UK unlimited aerobatic gliding champion, was taken to a nearby hospital with three cracked vertebrae, but doctors said he is expected to make a full recovery.

FMI: www.bgat.org.uk