AAIB investigation to DG Aviation LS8-e, G-CMMG

1All times are UTC� Crown copyright 2026 AAIB Bulletin: G-CMMG AAIB-30918 Accident Aircraft Type and Registration: DG Aviation LS8-e, G-CMMG No & Type of Engines: 1 LZ Design D.O.O FES-LS8-M100 electric engine Year of Manufacture: 2022 (Serial no: 8545) Date & Time (UTC): 25 May 2025 at 1631 hrs Location: Near Milston, Wiltshire Type of Flight: Private Persons on Board: Crew - 1 Passengers - None Injuries: Crew - 1 (Serious) Passengers - N/A Nature of Damage: Destroyed Commander’s Licence: Sailplane Licence Commander’s Age: 71 years Commander’s Flying Experience: 1,603 hours (of which 199 were on type) Last 90 days - 47 hours Last 28 days - 26 hours Information Source: AAIB Field Investigation Synopsis During a flight in a UK National Gliding Competition, the pilot of G-CMMG was unable to maintain sufficient height to make it back to Lasham Airfield. The flight path at the end of the five-hour flight did not fit with the experience and normal practices of the pilot and resulted in the glider striking the ground with a high angle of bank. The pilot was seriously injured. Due to communication issues and a lack of coordination, the emergency services were not informed of the accident for a significant period, during which time the pilot’s condition deteriorated. He was subsequently airlifted to hospital where he was treated for multiple injuries, including a traumatic brain injury. As a result of the investigation the AAIB has made three Safety Recommendations to address the coordination and operational learning between those organisations involved in providing emergency assistance to an aircraft accident. The British Gliding Association (BGA), the Distress & Diversion (D&D) Cell and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have taken safety action to address issues raised by the investigation. History of the flight The pilot and his glider were at Lasham Gliding Club to take part in a UK National Gliding Competition which was being held over nine days. The date of the accident was on day two of the competition although the weather had precluded any flying on day one. The 2All times are UTC� Crown copyright 2026 AAIB Bulletin: G-CMMG AAIB-30918 day began at 0900 hrs with a competitor briefing where the day’s flying task was revealed. Afterwards the competitors had time to plan their routes, programme their navigation devices and prepare themselves and their gliders before launch. The route required the competitors to head to a circular area centred on Wellington in Somerset, before routing to a second area in Oxfordshire, with the finishing line back at Lasham. The pilot of G-CMMG was not ready to launch at his allocated time so he was moved to the back of his competition class. He was airborne on an aerotow at 1127 hrs. Once G-CMMG was released from the tow at approximately 2,800 ft amsl, he thermalled to the north-west whilst he waited for the competition start gate to open approximately 30 minutes later. His initial routing took him south-west, routing to the north of Winchester and to the south of Salisbury (Figure 1). His height along the route was between 5,600 ft amsl and 1,000 ft amsl. He reached Henstridge (within the first task area) at around 1550 hrs at a height of 2,800 ft amsl where he turned to the north-east. At around 1607 hrs, having descended to about 1,100 ft amsl, the pilot turned onto a more easterly heading following the Great Ridge towards Salisbury. He gained height by thermalling along the ridge, increasing to about 1,500 ft amsl. At about 1627 hrs, having descended to about 800 ft amsl, he gained about 100 ft in two 360° turns in a thermal before he passed over the A303. As he approached the end of the ridge at 1628 hrs, around 4 nm north-west of Salisbury, he turned to the north-east and passed between Stonehenge and Amesbury at 900 ft. Shortly afterwards as he headed north-east, he entered the Salisbury Plain Danger Areas. He proceeded to the east of Larkhill, passing over the north side of the village of Durrington where the last data point of the flight was recorded by the navigation display unit. At 1631:28 hrs, with an altitude reading close to the terrain elevation (about 360 ft amsl) he had been flying for nearly five hours. The glider was seen by a witness walking along the road near the accident site, to be very low and with a high angle of bank. The accident itself was not witnessed by anyone, but the pilot was discovered by a farmer between 30 and 45 minutes after the time of the last recorded data point. The farmer described the pilot as looking dazed and that he was walking around the field, collecting up broken parts of the glider and with a lot of blood around his head. Due to various communication issues, the emergency services were not called until 1748 hrs and by this time, the pilot’s condition had deteriorated. An air ambulance attended, and he was airlifted to hospital where he was admitted to the intensive care unit with a serious head injury. 3All times are UTC� Crown copyright 2026 AAIB Bulletin: G-CMMG AAIB-30918 Figure 1 Track of the accident flight, recorded by the onboard avionics © 2025 Google, Image © Landsat / Copernicus Accident site The accident site was in a field adjacent to some farm buildings. The first ground marks were from the right wingtip striking the ground close to one building and pieces of the wingtip were caught in the vegetation. The shape and proximity of the marks to the building indicated that the glider was approaching from the north and banking steeply with the wings almost vertical (Figure 2). The next ground marks into the field indicated various impacts suggesting a cartwheeling motion with the glider coming to rest in the middle of the field. The tail had become detached; the left wing structure had fractured and there was extensive damage to the nose and cockpit area. When the AAIB arrived at the scene, some of the glider’s parts had been collected by the pilot and placed in a pile near the main wreckage. Further debris was still scattered about the field. 4All times are UTC� Crown copyright 2026 AAIB Bulletin: G-CMMG AAIB-30918 Figure 2 Accident site and the gliders attitude at first ground impact Recorded information Flight data was downloaded from two avionics devices recovered from the glider. An LXNAV S10 variometer recorded Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) position data, pressure altitude, environmental noise level (ENL), and true airspeed (TAS) once per second for the whole flight and continued recording for a short period after the accident. The data recorded to an external microSD card, which contained 85 logs for flights since February 2023. An LXNAV LX9070 Display Unit also recorded the above parameters, and additionally the pitch attitude, roll, wind speed and direction. The LX9070 received GNSS data from a separate antenna to the S10. Data saved to the LX9070 included the accident flight, and 89 previous flights since February 2023. A logbook text file, generated by the unit, contained flight times, the calculated average speed and distance flown, amongst other parameters. The glider was also equipped with a Front Electric Sustainer (FES) propulsion system (see Aircraft Information section). Although this system had no recording functionality, its use is associated with an increase in the ENL recorded by both of the glider recording devices. The LX9070 also wrote a total “engine duration” for each flight to the logbook file. This “engine duration” appeared consistent with the periods of high ENL recorded in the S10 and LX9070 recordings for the accident flight, and for previous flights which the AAIB reviewed. 5All times are UTC� Crown copyright 2026 AAIB Bulletin: G-CMMG AAIB-30918 Accident flight Figure 3 shows a composite illustration of the GNSS ground track for the last 2 minutes of the flight, with logged flight data parameters recovered from the S10 and LX9070. The terrain elevation in the altitude

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