Pilot who narrowly survived glider crash says he wasn’t ‘fortunate’
A pilot who narrowly survived a terrifying air crash after his glider nose dived into the ground has said he didn’t have a ‘lucky escape’.
Christopher Tooze, 70, was in the cockpit when his aircraft smashed into a road near an airfield in Gloucestershire.
His motorised glider hit the ground on the A419 near Aston Down airfield in Frampton Mansell at 4.45pm on Tuesday.
But the veteran pilot denied he had been lucky given that his Grob 109B two-seater had crashed, ripping off one of it’s wings.
He told the Telegraph: ‘I’m not lucky. I’d consider myself lucky if I hadn’t come down in the first place.’
A pilot who survived a plane crash near an airfield in Gloucestershire has denied being lucky to escape
Christopher Tooze, 70, said the fact that his glider had crashed meant he wasn’t lucky
The pilot said he had been visited at his home by someone from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), remarking that it had been ‘quite a day’.
The incident is now being investigated by the Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB).
Mr Tooze added that he wished people would wait for its findings before jumping to conclusions.
He had owned the two-seater glider since 2018.
The Grob 109B was used extensively by the Royal Air Force, which used to operate 60 of the German-made aircraft.
Known to cadets as the Vigilant T Mk.1, the model is designed to be taken off conventionally until it reaches cruising altitude, when the engines can be cut off and the plane soared as a glider.
The model was eventually grounded in 2018 after issues with maintenance paperwork and the fleet was sold off to charity Aerobility.
The Grob 109B nose dived into the A419 near Aston Down airfield, with one of its wings ripped off by the impact
The rear of the crashed aircraft, which Mr Tooze had owned since 2018
A spokesperson for the Cotswold Gliding Club, which is one of the UK’s largest with a membership of around 150, said that two of its members were involved in the crash.
Speaking on behalf of the club, Chris Cooper said: ‘Two members of the Cotswold Gliding Club were taken to hospital with minor injuries to be checked on after an incident involving one of the club’s motorised gliders.
‘The Air Accident Investigation Branch is now involved, so we can’t say much more than that. We are trying to get more information on the status of the survivors.’
Gloucestershire Constabulary said: ‘Motorists are advised that road closures are in place while emergency services are in attendance. There were two occupants on board [the plane] who will be assessed by the ambulance service, and it is understood that no other vehicles were involved.’
The Great Western Air Ambulance charity said that its paramedics attended the scene by helicopter where they ‘assessed a patient’, being taking him to Southmead Hospital in Bristol.
