The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has released the results of its investigation into the crash of a glider on May 29, 2024, that claimed the lifetime of a Calgary man.
Sixty-five-year-old Kerry Stevenson was killed when his glider crashed whereas he was participating within the Canadian Nationwide Hovering Championships, hosted by the Cu Nim Gliding Club south of Freeway 7 between Diamond Valley and Okotoks.
Kerry Stevenson was killed in a gliding crash in Southern Alberta on Wednesday Might 29, 2024.
Courtesy of the Cu Nim Gliding Membership
The TSB says Stevenson had been gliding for almost 30 years, had acquired roughly 750 flight hours on gliders and offered glider instruction to different membership members.
The report says situations for gliding on the day of the crash have been “poor” and quite a few gliders returned to the competitors airstrip (aerodome) after flying for lower than 20 minutes.
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After he tried, unsuccessfully, for 23 minutes to realize altitude, Stevenson additionally turned again towards the aerodome, however his glider ultimately went right into a spin and misplaced greater than 60 metres (200 ft) in altitude.
He was capable of get well the plane from spinning, however the TSB says, a short while later, witnesses report seeing “one thing fall from the glider and realized it was the cover, adopted shortly by the pilot bailing out of the glider with no seen parachute cover. The glider then pitched up and entered a spin to the left and collided with terrain, leading to substantial harm.”
The report says, “the pilot, who was carrying a parachute, impacted the bottom and was fatally injured.”
An examination of the glider, following the crash, confirmed there have been no points with the plane’s flight controls or different techniques and Stevenson had the correct license and medical certificates to function it.
The TSB investigation did establish two issues with the parachute, noting that it was 26 years previous on the time of the crash, exceeding its service lifetime of 20 years and it had not been repacked as required in January 2024.
The report says Stevenson had additionally practiced ejecting from the glider, however solely whereas it was stationary on the bottom and there was no report of him having ever skydived.
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