Very sad news from Turweston Aerodrome today

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28th July 2016

A Gyro copter light aircraft pilot was killed after crashing at Turweston Aerodrome this morning.

The Pilot  Richard Green was the only person on board the plane, which came down on the main runway at Turweston Aerodrome, Buckinghamshire,  Richard was a much repected member of the Turweston community.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said the force was called at about 11:30 BST.

He added: "Sadly, the pilot of the aircraft was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not believed to be suspicious."

Police, Fire, Ambulance and the air ambulance all attended the scene.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch dispatched a team to the crash site.

Turweston Airfield will be closed to aircraft until Saturday 30 July. According to a statement From the LAA

Statement from Turweston Aerodorme....

"FATAL ACCIDENT AT TURWESTON AERODROME

We are saddened to report that earlier today (Thursday) the pilot of a gyroplane died in an accident at Turweston Aerodrome. As a result of the subsequent AAIB investigations, we are informed the airfield will be closed until Saturday morning, meaning that visits by air to LAA HQ will not be possible on Friday 29th July. Naturally we send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased pilot and our thoughts are also with all our friends and neighbours in the Turweston flying community." 
 

Driving test consultation: the proposed changes explained

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The proposals are to:

  • increase the ‘independent driving’ part of the test from 10 to 20 minutes
  • ask candidates to follow directions on a sat nav as an alternative to following road signs
  • replace current manoeuvres such as ‘reverse around a corner’ with more real life scenarios for example, driving into and reversing out of a parking bay
  • ask one of the two vehicle safety questions while the candidate is driving, for example, asking candidates to use the rear heated screen

We will let you know when this process goes from consultation stage to driving test adoptation

Research shows that some learner drivers only learn what they need to so they can pass the driving test. This causes them to take their test before they’re properly ready, which results in a lower overall driving test pass rate.

The driving test can’t cover all of what learners need to know but where new drivers tend to get it wrong are when they are confronted by fast rural roads and complex junctions so the test will focus on these higher risk areas.

The new manoeuvres are used in every day driving and will mean that whilst the turn in the road and reverse around a corner should feature in the training syllabus, they will not be part of the test which will remove the need to spend time in the quieter low risk roads.

 

The driving test can’t cover all of what learners need to know but where new drivers tend to get it wrong are when they are confronted by fast rural roads and complex junctions so the test will focus on these higher risk areas.

We want the test to be like a real journey and by making use of sat nav we can see that new drivers can manage this distraction safely. Those involved in the trial have said this helps them to concentrate on their driving and forget about the examiner!