Collision en vol du Ka 8 avec un parachutiste à l'aérodrome de Hinton-in-the-Hedges

Le 1er juin 2002, un Schleicher Ka-8B est entré en collision en vol avec un parachutiste à l'aérodrome de Hinton-in-the-Hedges, entraînant la mort du pilote du planeur et du parachutiste. L'incident s'est produit lors d'un exercice de parachutisme en chute libre à 12 000 pieds. Le planeur a été détruit lors de l'impact avec le sol. L'aérodrome avait une procédure établie pour coordonner les activités de vol à voile et de parachutisme, mais des problèmes de communication ont été notés lors de l'enquête.

1. Aerotow to local soaring: The Ka-8B launched by aerotow from Hinton-in-the-Hedges, released at about 2,000 feet, and was later seen soaring east of the airfield at roughly 2,000–2,500 feet.
2. No parachute worn: The glider pilot chose to fly without wearing a parachute, despite club practice and BGA recommended procedures that occupants should wear serviceable parachutes when operating from BGA sites.
3. DZ cone misunderstanding: There was a discrepancy between the skydiving centre’s defined cone of operation and the gliding club DI’s understanding of its limits, creating potential for the glider to be within the active parachute drop area.
4. Unheeded DZ warnings: As the Turbolet ran in for a live drop, the DZ controller twice broadcast warnings on 119.45 MHz for a glider in the overhead to leave the area and then attempted to cancel the drop, but no response was received from the glider and the Turbolet crew did not hear the cancellation.
5. Glider under parachute stream: While three parachutists were separating from formation around 4,000 feet during a free-fall descent from 12,000 feet, the Ka-8B was flying below within the parachute descent area.
6. Mid-air collision: One parachutist, who had not yet deployed his main canopy, collided with the Ka-8B’s left wing, causing the outboard section of the wing to separate in flight.
7. Crash - fatal: With its left wing structurally failed, the Ka-8B dived into the ground and was destroyed, fatally injuring the pilot, while the parachutist’s reserve parachute deployed automatically too low to prevent fatal injuries.