Serious Accident - 2007 - Ryszadr Porebski

Following his very serious accident at Skerries in April, Ryszard Porebski has generously agreed to allow his accident report to be made public so that lessons can be learned.

Skerries is a low coastal cliff site with no safe or easy landing out in front, and a top-landing that requires skill and precision to avoid a busy road, telegraph wires and a railway line, making it a requirement that pilots have a minimum of 50 hours air-time experience before they can fly there with any degree of safety. This site produces a very narrow lift band, which effectively limits the number of pilots that can safely be in the air at any one time and demands strict adherence to the rules of the air if it is to be flown safely.

On the day in question, there were four pilots in the air - one at one end of the cliff and three, including Ryszard, at the other end. Here is Ryszard's account of what happened:

During my left turn I was caught by turbulence from another glider, which was performing wingovers in front of me.  As he turned sharply before me (towards the sea) I felt that I was losing height (about 2-3 metres).  At the same time my wing turned uncontrollably to the left and pushed me onto the wall.  I hit the wall firstly with my left leg and then the rest of my body and harness was "kicked" over the wall and I fell onto the car park.

The situation was similar to this picture (http://tinyurl.com/2xhcq9) but the other pilot was much lower and this caused the turbulence, which affected my wing.

I hope that this report can help other pilots to avoid similar, dangerous situations in the air.

It is not the function of an accident investigation to apportion blame but to see what lessons can be learned so that similar situations do not arise in the future. It cannot be over-emphasised just how serious this accident was - Ryszard is extremely lucky not to have lost his leg and to actually be walking again, and but for the prompt and decisive action by an onlooker this could have been a fatal accident. He still has a long road to travel before he makes a full recovery, so please take heed of the advice given below.

Following Ryszard's and others' reports, the IHPA would like to draw pilots' attention to the following:
  • Skerries is a site that demands that pilots have a minimum of 50 hours air-time, with experience of flying in all conditions and in proximity to other pilots.
  • Strict adherence must be paid to the Rules of the Air and the Rules of the Ridge, with particular emphasis on the number one rule: See and Avoid.
  • Pilots must be fully aware of the proximity of other pilots at all times and ensure that it is safe to turn before initiating a turn.
  • Pilots should refrain from performing violent, radical or high-energy manoeuvres and wing-overs at this site, especially if they are in close proximity to other pilots.