Glider destroyed by lightning, BBC 999 program of the reconstruction

17th April 1999 I was given a gift certificate of a days gliding to celebrate my 30th birthday but a very powerful lightning bolt destroyed the glider that I was a passenger in. This is the reconstruction of my accident shown on the popular BBC 999 program.

10 years later I returned to the sky in a similar ASK21 glider with the same instructor that had to bail out with me. We flew together and then I went up again with another instructor and flew an aerobatic loop the loop to celebrate the BIG 40! The days events were filmed by ITV Anglia and shown on their Tonight program. Please see my other YouTube videos. I did this to help raise awareness and vital funds for the Parkinson's Disease Society ( PDS ). So far this has raised over £1500 for the PDS.

My scrapbook of the days events of 10 years ago has photos of the actual wreckage and can be seen on the following web page:- http://sites.google.com/site/thebig40reachfortheskiesagain/

The BBC 999 program was one of my favorite programs, I am sure it helped save lives. I never thought I would end up on it! Please bring it back BBC




Copyright British Broadcasting Corporation

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Glider
• Destroyed
• Lightning
• Bolt
• Strike
• GQ
• Parachute
• Crash
• Accident
• ASK21
• Parkinson's
• Parkinsons
• Disease
• Society
• PDS
• Aerobatic
• Loop
• Gliding
• Sail
• Plane
• Graeme
• Cooper
• Survived
• Bail
• Out
• Ripcord
• Bedfordshire
• BBC
• 999
• Burke
• Eject

[RussWWFC]

Nice video. I miss 999. Good to see you survived though. How long did the perforated ear drums take to mend and did you need any surgery or anything?

[LUCKYglider999]

Thanks Russ,

No surgery, I left hospital the same day of the accident after a few checks and I could hear properly again after about a week.

[WKDJamie]

Love 999 shame it's stukk not going anymore

I'm glad you're alright, fair play for having another crack at it.

What happend to the Pilot? hope he was ok after the broken ankle

[LUCKYglider999]

Thanks WKDJamie

I think Peter the pilot he was shaken up a little more than I was. He spent a few days in hospital but returned to gliding. I met up with him earlier this year when we flew together again exactly 10 years + 1 day after the accident. You can see Peter and I on my 2 other videos. The Savage Planet video was filmed a couple of months after the accident, you can see Peter still with his crutches. The other video is of our return to the sky.

[woodyyak]

I miss 999 also, especially as I was one of the camera men, and shot all the mini cam glider footage, great times for the BBC !

[Pyroman1990]

"Free fall for a bit" from 2,000 feet? Your a brave man.

[uhegbu]

Praise the Lord that the pilot is alive and continues his gliding.

[DutchFalcons]

And I thought my outlanding on my 14th start was special.

[VioletSpanxx]

Oh my GOODNESS! I'd never get in one of those things again! To be fair I'd not get into one full stop haha!

[88asma]

Drum and Bass perforated my eardrums.

[thedarkdragon735]

i actually saw i glider crash at shoreham airshow, i got it on my camcorder

[210482fmj]

when i look at this now it seems more like a real life horror movie

[NaomiCave]

i didnt know 999 was on as late as this. i remember watching it as a really young kid, about 4 or 5, and it scared me stiff, i would jump into my sisters bed. at least i learnt how to give myself the hiemlich manoveur with a kitchen chair if i start choking home alone. also, one episode gave me nightmares; where somebody fell in a cooling tower. wow... its great you returned to gliding, most would be scared to death upon seeing one again, let alone getting in one! amazing you werent more hurt!

[shazdavidtennant11]

i love 999 bring it back

[Hudson633rd]

NINE NINE, NIIIIIINE!

[MrTumnus8896]

Well done for going back and trying it again!