FATAL CRASH
Horror as glider pilot killed after smashing into another plane mid-air in Melton Mowbray
A GLIDER pilot has died following a mid-air collision with another in Leicestershire.
Both aircraft crashed to the ground in Melton Mowbray following Thursday's aerial horror.
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One glider was found in a field in Alderman Way but tragically the pilot was pronounced dead at the scene.
The second glider landed safely nearby, with the pilot sustaining minor injuries.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has been notified and will be leading an investigation into the crash.
One shocked local said the pilot that survived walked across the field before knocking on her door.
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She said they were "very shaken and concerned about the other pilot".
While another local revealed how the dead pilot's glider narrowly avoided smashing into houses by a matter of inches after it clipped a TV aerial.
They said: "It appears he tried to avoid the houses as he crashed and if that's the case he has died a hero.
"It could have been much worse if he had gone into the houses and it looks like the last thing he ever did was to try and protect others.
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"He has come within inches of hitting one house as he has took the aerial off one of the properties."
David Leach, of nearby Marigold Crescent, said he saw both gliders collide before one plummeted to earth like "a rocket".
He told : "I came out and we just looked up watching them circle right above us and then, all of a sudden, there was a mighty bang.
"I think the end of the wing of one clipped the back end of one glider, chopping his tail end off and one of them just came crashing down like a rocket.
"The noise was terrible. It was just so bad to see and it happened so quick."
His wife, Joy Leach, added: "When you're in your garden you don't expect that sort of thing to happen."
A spokesperson for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said: "We received a call from Leicestershire Police at 15:05 to a microlight or glider that had crashed in a field in Melton Mowbray.
"We sent an appliance from Melton Mowbray Station and Birstall Station."
Leicestershire Police has urged anyone with information or footage of the incident to contact police on 101, quoting incident 422 of August 17.
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