An Alberta glider pilot who died after ejecting from his plane and hitting the ground during a competition last year had a working parachute but limited experience deploying it, an investigation has found.
Gliding conditions were poor on the seventh day of the 2024 Canadian National Soaring Competition last May about 60 kilometres south of Calgary near Black Diamond, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an incident report published Tuesday.
Many competitors had turned back after flying for less than 20 minutes on what was supposed to be a three-part, 400-kilometre journey, the report said.
After 23 minutes of flying, and reversing course himself, 65-year-old Kerry Stevenson of Calgary tried to gain altitude by turning, but his glider stalled.
Flight data recovered from the glider showed Stevenson, who had 30 years of flying experience and was a flight instructor, was less than half a kilometre above ground when the glider started barrelling down at a high speed and he ejected.
Investigators had previously determined his parachute didn't open, and he died after hitting the ground.
The event was cancelled after Stevenson's death.
The incident report said after the crash, Stevenson's parachute was inspected by Canadian Armed Forces specialists, who identified two issues.
The first was that the parachute and harness were 26 years old, which surpassed the manufacturer's recommended 20-year service life.
The other issue was that the last time the parachute was professionally examined and certified was in March of 2023. The report said the parachute should have been examined in January of 2024.
Military specialists nonetheless determined the parachute was still in working condition.
But the incident report said parachuting "is a complex activity that requires co-ordinated actions in extreme environments," and Stevenson had limited experience.
"The pilot had practised egress from a glider but only when the glider was stationary on the ground," it said.
"There was no record of the pilot having ever skydived."
The report said an emergency scenario like what Stevenson was facing creates a number of additional challenges for safely deploying a parachute.
"In extreme stressful scenarios, otherwise very simple tasks can become impossible to perform," it said.
"This is especially the case during an emergency when an individual typically will be surprised and faced with time pressure and a potential or imminent threat to life."
The safety board said pilots should always be familiar with emergency measures like parachutes, and should know how their planes perform in demanding conditions.
The report said Stevenson had flown this particular glider for the first time two days earlier.
Jason Acker, the president of the Alberta Soaring Council, said in an email Tuesday that the organization will be reviewing the report to see if its procedures, policy or training methods can be improved.
He said the review will involve representatives from each of Alberta's four main glider clubs, including the Cu Nim Gliding Club, which hosted the event and to which Stevenson belonged.
The club did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2025.
Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
