Close shave for gliding pensioner
A GLIDING enthusiast was lucky to be alive today after his aircraft crashed into a Suffolk hedgerow.73-year-old John Hampton was gliding over north Suffolk, when he was forced to land in the village of Wortham near Diss.
A GLIDING enthusiast was lucky to be alive today after his aircraft crashed into a Suffolk hedgerow.
73-year-old John Hampton was gliding over north Suffolk, when he was forced to land in the village of Wortham near Diss.
But Mr Hampton's K6E glider missed the hayfield it was aiming for and careered straight into a 12ft hedge.
Emergency services were called to the aid of the pensioner at about 2.30pm.
Mr Hampton, from Upminster in Essex, was taken to the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.
A spokesman for West Suffolk Hospital said: "Mr Hampton has been admitted and his condition is comfortable."
Most Read
- 1 Crash involving ambulance closes Ipswich road
- 2 Police carry out 'pre-planned' operation in Felixstowe road
- 3 Richest people in East Anglia revealed on Sunday Times Rich List
- 4 'You have broken us!' - New cafe at Suffolk beauty spot on huge demand
- 5 Parking woes for shop parade hit by 'continous roadworks'
- 6 Suffolk fish and chip van to feature on Escape to the Country
- 7 Ipswich salon to offer free gent's haircut at Suffolk Show
- 8 Driver taken to hospital after car crashes into parked vehicle
- 9 Double drink driver who killed Jennifer, 32, jailed six years and eight months
- 10 Suffolk's top 10 fish and chip shops as voted by our readers - now pick a winner
Mr Hampton, a member of Essex Gliding Club in Ridgewell, had just flown from the club's site to Tibbenham in Norfolk and was making his way back to Essex when he crashed.
Don Ling, a fellow member of the Essex Gliding Club, said: "John flies at least twice a week. He is a bit of a gliding enthusiast.
"He would have been on his way back when he crashed, but we don't know why this happened.
"John would have been towed back by an aeroplane. But we don't know whether he arranged to be towed all the way back or just part of the way, intending to complete the rest of the journey alone.
"The aeroplane towing him may not have even known what happened."
The glider, worth about £7,000, was written off.