YouTuber killed in glider crash deliberately took off in 'roaring' winds, investigation hears

Pilot Matt Wright, 47, known to thousands of social video fans as 'Balleka', died in December 2016 after accident near Dartmoor caused by strong gale

A thrill-seeking glider pilot who gained thousands of followers on YouTube after videoing his airborne exploits died after deliberately taking off in “challenging” conditions, a crash investigation has found.

Matt Wright, 47, died after his engineless craft came down shortly after launching from Brentor Airfield in Devon in December 2016.

The wind at the site on the edge of Dartmoor was “turbulent”, with gusts of up to 30 knots (35mph) at the time, an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said.

But Mr Wright, who had more than 15,000 followers on YouTube under the name Balleka, decided to take off despite having witnessed another glider pilot aborting his own flight an hour beforehand because of the wind.

His Schleicher glider had three cameras attached, on the tail, right wingtip and in the cockpit, the AAIB report said.

The experienced pilot's friends told investigators that they had deliberately gone to the site because of the tricky conditions and decided to risk a flight because of the chance of experiencing an “epic wave”.

The AAIB believes that after a “winch launch” Mr Wright's craft was hit by a downdraft as it turned left, possibly as he attempted to abort his own flight and land.

Noting he and his group of friends had also flown in similar or windier conditions elsewhere, the report said: “The pilot in this accident was experienced, was current and was known for his interest in seeking out challenging flying conditions.

“He and his group had travelled to the site precisely because of the conditions as they believed this would offer them the opportunity for high-performance gliding.

“The pilot had flown in very demanding conditions previously.

“At this level, gliding is a high-performance sporting activity and the pilot knew of and accepted the degree of hazard to achieve high-performance flight.

“Given the experience of the pilot, the decision to launch seems a reasonable choice.”

Mr Wright was a qualified pilot with more than 1,500 hours experience in gliders.

The report said that his group had assessed the site before the 4 December flight and noted that the wind was “roaring” in the valley to the east of the airfield, even when the wind on the site was lower.

Other witnesses estimated the wind was reaching 20 knots (23mph), with gusts up to 30 knots.

Dartmoor Gliding Club had decided not to fly and a local pilot who took off at around 11.30am, an hour before the deadly flight, had aborted immediately, circling around and coming straight back in to land.

Mr Wright took off using a ground-based winch, which uses a “weak link” wire to propel gliders into the sky before disconnecting.

The link separated early when he was between 200 feet and 300 feet up, the report found, but it noted: “Weak link separations are not uncommon, particularly in turbulent conditions.”

The report also found that Mr Wright had enough runway left in front of him to land by coming straight down, but had decided to turn left, probably to land facing the opposite way.

It added: “Very soon after starting the left turn it appears that the aircraft was affected by a significant downdraft and probably a significant delay in airspeed due to windshear.

“As a result the aircraft did not gain airspeed for several seconds despite a pronounced nose-down attitude.

“This increased the rate of descent to a very high value and at this point the situation was beyond recovery.”

The Devon and Somerset Gliding Club paid tribute to Mr Wright, from Tiverton, after the crash.

Writing on its website, chairwoman Lisa Humphries said: “Matt was a highly experienced pilot and friend to all of us at the Devon and Somerset Gliding Club.

“He was always full of energy and loved every aspect of aviation.

“Not only was he an expert glider pilot, but also an accomplished commercial Airline Captain, film-maker and cartoonist.”

PA