Hang-glider's crash was 'accidental death' confirms inquest

A verdict of accidental death has been returned on a teenage from Warrington who died whilst hand-gliding in Derbyshire in October 2011.

Lois Preston was an experienced paraglider who had progressed to hang gliding on the day she died had already performed a solo flight. She'd encountered minor difficulties on that, but corrected them and made a perfect landing.

She was eager to take off again.

The jury was shown a model of a hang glider and the microlight that got it airborne.

They heard that on this second, fatal flight, the wing dropped to the left, Lois corrected it, but when it tilted again, she, for some reason, did not correct it. What was then described as a "lockout" occurred similar to when you are unable to control a kite in spite of your best efforts.

Lois crashed to the ground head first and sustained a severe skull fracture and brain damage. She was airlifted to hospital in Nottingham and her father was at her bedside when she died.

The Coroner in Derby, Dr. Paul McCandless described the case as a tragedy.