Glider pilot's lucky escape

The accident happened at around 12.30pm after the aircraft plunged from the sky into a field in The Broyle.

Incredibly, the 20-year-old male pilot didn't suffer a single broken bone but it took the emergency services 20 minutes to free him from the wreckage.

He was rushed to Eastbourne District General Hospital in an air ambulance and at one stage it was feared he had suffered a serious neck injury.

However, he was released from the hospital on Monday and the club which he belongs to, East Sussex Gliding Club, has launched a full investigation into how the accident happened.

The pilot had started his journey from Kitson Field in The Broyle and had been towed to 2,500 feet by an aircraft before the glider began its solo journey.

After a 20-minute flight the pilot was close to returning to the airstrip when he suffered difficulties and crashed into the next field.

A club spokesman said: 'All I know is the glider clipped the top of a tree and crashed into the field.'