I saw this @ O.Z. Report
Pilot falls 2000ft as glider breaks up
By Chris Morris Tuesday, 2nd January 2007
Chuck Berry
Queenstown: Glider pilot Chuck Berry escaped death after his craft disintegrated in mid-air yesterday, sending him plunging 2000ft (600m) into bushes on Coronet Peak as horrified friends looked on.
Mr Berry, of Queenstown, told the Otago Daily Times he was performing aerobatics on a recreational flight in his Swift glider when the accident happened about 2.30pm. He was diving down to build up speed, having earlier been as high as 5500ft, when the glider began to buck and shake.
Moments later there was a “catastrophic structural failure� and the wings ripped clean off the glider’s cockpit cage. Mr Berry was sent plummeting down towards the mountain below, still dangling half in and half out of the cage and desperately reaching to find the lever that would deploy his emergency reserve parachute, he said.
After about 10 seconds of free-fall, during which time the wind was roaring around him, he eventually found “the right handle� and deployed the reserve parachute. It slowed his rate of descent for about five seconds, before he crash-landed in bushes on the steep Coronet Peak slope.
He remained where he crashed for about 30 minutes, still strapped into the remains of the cockpit with the wreckage of his glider scattered around him. While he waited for rescuers to arrive, he called the Queenstown air traffic control tower to report the crash, and received a call from friend and fellow pilot Dominic Eller.
Mr Eller had watched the drama unfold from the nearby Flight Park, where Mr Berry had intended to land.
Speaking from Lakes District Hospital, where he was flown by helicopter for precautionary checks, Mr Berry said he received only minor cuts and bruises in the crash. He credited his 23 years of experience as a sky-diver with preventing panic from setting in and helping him give “the performance of my life�.
Only one thing was going through his mind as he plunged towards the ground, he said: “Save yourself.�
“Panic will never save you. You have just got to keep a clear head, especially when the ground is rushing up.
“You owe it to yourself to do the best you can, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the hills behind me so I could gauge how far away everything was and how much altitude I had left. And time was of the essence.�
The moment of impact was
“great�, Mr Berry said. The reserve parachute, despite its small size, had slowed him enough in five seconds and the bushes he landed in helped cushion the blow.
“I thought it was going to be much worse. I was very happy to walk away, without sustaining any major injuries.�
Mr Berry lay 200m up the Coronet Peak slope, about 1km from the Flight Park near Arrowtown, feeling elated, until volunteer firefighters from Arrowtown reached him on foot. His first words to his rescuers were: “Happy New Year�.
“I was just stoked to be alive, really. There’s nothing better.�
Mr Berry has been paragliding and sky-diving for 23 years and hang-gliding for six years. He held a microlight test pilot licence and was the southern hang-gliding safety officer.
Despite being forced to use his reserve parachute on 11 occasions during more than 5000 sky-diving jumps, Mr Berry insisted his latest escape would not put him off.
“I have had my whole life in aviation and every now and then these things happen. I’ve never lost the wings of my flying craft before,� he said.