The 70-year-old pilot, who crashed his glider into a tree in a forest next to the airport of Overboelare (Geraardsbergen) in East Flanders, succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. The man was a member of the Phoenix Glider Club.
Regional journalist at HLN
Images show crashed glider near Overboelare airport
The accident happened on Saturday shortly after 2 p.m., near the local airport of Geraardsbergen. According to witnesses, the plane suddenly went straight down. Local residents immediately notified the emergency services, who quickly arrived on the scene. The pilot was alone in the glider. He was removed from the wreckage and resuscitated at the scene. The man was then urgently transferred to the AZORG hospital in Aalst. The seventy-something from Geraardsbergen succumbed to his injuries there on Wednesday.
The aviation police arrived on the scene to make the first observations. The area was mapped from a helicopter. The public prosecutor’s office appointed an expert to investigate the exact cause of the crash. The results of that research are not yet known.
The Phoenix board meets Wednesday evening. They will only send out a response after that consultation.