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Glider Pilot Who Cheated Death at 4,500 ft "Almost Hit by Combine Harvester" After Field La
Aug. 01, 2014

A pilot cheats death by jumping from his glider as it plunges to the ground following a 4,500ft crash that knocked off its wing.

Great-grandfather Andy Preston, 70, managed to parachute to safety after his plane and another glider collided during a competition.

He said: "It was like a car crash in the air. I was very lucky to get out. The other glider seemed to come out of nowhere. There was a very loud crash and my craft seemed to immediately tip upside down. I pulled the handle to open the canopy and then the buckle to release me and, because of the angle I was at, I just fell out. Once I was free of the aircraft, I released the parachute."

Farmer Andy suffered minor injuries because he was only using a small emergency chute.

He also narrowly avoided being hit by a combine harvester, having to pull himself out of its path to the edge of the field.

He said: "People often break their bones. I was extremely lucky and only fractured a vertebrate in my back and cut my leg. I spent a few days in hospital but I'm fine. It's frightening to think I could have landed safely then been hit by farm equipment."

Andy, who lives near Milton Keynes, Bucks, has been gliding for over 19 years but may now retire.

He said: "The glider has gone. I'm 70 now, I don't know whether it's worth getting another."

Wife Shelagh, who bought his first lesson for his 50th birthday, said: "The crash sent me into a flat spin.

"Gliding gave him a lot of fun over the years but that was my worst nightmare."

Andy was taking part in the Hus Bos Challenge Cup when the accident happened on Saturday.

He took off from Husbands Bosworth, Leics, before crashing in the skies above Little Paxton, Cambs.

It is believed the gliders were travelling at around 50mph.

The pilot of the second craft was able to land safely on an airfield near Bedford.

Eyewitness Martin Boss, 45, said: "Two of them touched each other, one of the wings came off and it went down."

The crash is being probed by the British Gliding Association.

Chief executive Pete Stratten said: "Gliding is a relatively safe sport but everybody does accept that there is a greater risk than climbing on a commercial aircraft."

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