Woman dies in air crash tragedy

Woman dies in air crash tragedy
Amy Bar*****y, 25, of Longridge killed in a glider accident in Oxfordshire on August 8, 2010.

Published on Thu Aug 12 09:37:24 BST 2010


A devastated family today told of their loss after their daughter plunged 1,000ft to her death in a horror glider crash.


Amy Bar*****y, 25, was flying solo during a competition when witnesses reported seeing the glider’s wings fall off in mid-air.

Stunned onlookers ˉ including Amy’s boyfriend Bruce Duncan ˉ could only look on in horror as the glider plummeted to the ground.

Paramedics rushed to help her but Amy, from Dilworth Lane, Longridge, was pronounced dead at the scene at 3.15pm on Sunday.

Today, her dad Steve Bar*****y, 55, mum Helen, 55, and sister Lorna, 21, spoke of their devastation at Amy’s death.

Steve, a social worker at Lancashire County Council, said: “There are few words. Devastation is one that comes to mind, the sense of loss is overwhelming.

“It was such a shock when police arrived, I spotted them through the

“Seeing two police officers at the front door meant I was going to receive bad news.

“That was all the warning I had, it was two or three seconds before the door was opened.”

Her sister Lorna, 21, said: “It is the nightmare scenario you know could happen but you do not think is going to happen to you.”

Her tearful mum Helen, a former teacher, said: “We just cannot accept this.”

Amy, a former Longridge High School and Clitheroe Royal Grammar School pupil, was on her second flight in the Inter-University Gliding Competition, at the Bicester Gliding Club, Oxfordshire, when the tragedy happened.

Steve, who has spoken to accident investigators and Amy’s boyfriend Bruce, said his daughter had taken her first flight but was disappointed with how it went.

He said: “She landed without difficulty, but we are told she was very keen to get in the air again.

“Amy got to a height of between 800 and 1,000ft when one wing, then almost immediately a second, parted with the fuselage.

“Clearly the craft had broken up and all the weight is in the fuselage and that plummeted to the ground.
“The wings fell a little distance away but were undamaged.

“The initial comment from the investigator was that he believes the aircraft was correctly assembled for flight and it appears the problem is with the integrity of the aircraft.

“They are doing metallurgical tests to see if we are looking at metal faults.

“It seems the accident was witnessed by many people.

“The investigator had nearly 30 witnesses to interview.”

Amy became hooked on gliding after taking part in a cadet training course at the Bowland Forest Gliding Club, based at Fiddler’s Lane, in Chipping, aged 17.

She then chose the University of Edinburgh to study an archaeology degree partly because it was the best place for her to develop her passion for gliding.

She went on to become president of the university’s gliding club and settled in the city with her partner Bruce, 25, after graduating in 2007.

Amy was currently studying a PHD in the school of School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queen’s University, Belfast.

Her sister Lorna said: “In a way we were so different yet so similar. I am feet on the ground and she loved planes, which I am terrified.

“I love boats and she was terrified of them.

“We had the same sense of humour and ideals and an interest in art.

“She was such a good role model for me, always jetting off and having adventures. I wasn’t brave enough for that.”

Geoff Guttery, from New Longton, a former chief flying instructor at the Bowland Forest Gliding Club, took Amy out for some of the lessons which inspired her passion for the sport as a teenager.

He said: “She joined us as a part of a cadet scheme we ran each year.

“She became interested in it and subsequently joined as a member.

“She was a lovely girl and it is a huge tragedy for everybody at the club.

“She was extremely keen and enthusiastic and a very good pilot.

“I just remember Amy as a very good club member who we were delighted to have as a member.

“We will remember her as a really, really nice girl.

“Everybody at the club who knew her will be devastated by it.”

A funeral will take place in Edinburgh at a date yet to be arranged.

The family also hopes to hold a memorial event in Longridge.

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