Glider pilot parachutes to safety following double death crash
The pilot of a glider registered in the name of a Locks Heath man made a miraculous escape from a mid-air crash which killed two people in another plane.
The Standard Cirrus glider, registered to Mark Holden, is believed to have been clipped from underneath by an RAF training aircraft yesterday after it suddenly gained height.
Eye-witnesses in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, said the glider pilot was able to eject and parachute safely back to earth, but the Grob Tutor nose-dived, and both planes crashed in a field.
Mark Holden's father, Gerard Holden, last night said: 'I am not going to say who the pilot in the glider was, but I can tell you my son is absolutely fine.
'An investigation has to be completed and I do not want to say anything that could be misconstrued.
'This is a shocking, tragic accident, but these things happen in aviation.'
The Ministry of Defence has informed the families of the young cadet and instructor who died.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Friday 25 May 2012
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