THE boyfriend of a young glider pilot who plunged to her death wept as he described watching her fall from the sky above Bicester.

Yesterday, an inquest heard how Amy Barsby, 25, died last August, when the wings fell off her glider seconds after take-off.

She plunged to the ground from between 600 and 1,000 ft and was killed instantly Miss Barsby and boyfriend Bruce Duncan had travelled from their home in Edinburgh, to Windrushers Gliding Club, at Bicester airfield, off Skimmingdish Lane, to take part in an inter-university gliding competition.

Mr Duncan said: “I turned my back for a few seconds while it was in the main climb and walked back to the launch pad.

“I turned back to watch the rest of the climb before seeing the wings separate.”

He wept as Oxford coroner Nicholas Gardiner said: “I’m sure it was very distressing for you.”

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch ruled the crash was caused by a mechanical failure because the bolt connecting the wings to the fuselage had not been connected properly.

It has made a recommendation that all similar aircraft to the Foka 4 should be modified after it was found the lower part of the bolt could not be checked.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Gardiner said he would push for the modifications to be a legal requirement.

Afterwards Miss Barsby’s family, father Steven, mother Helen and sister Lorna, of Lancashire, said Amy had been passionate about gliding since she was 16.

Mr Barsby said: “We have been devastated by the loss of our wonderful daughter and it’s so tragic to reflect that this is not the first death that can be attributed to a mechanical failure like the one that caused Amy’s glider to fall out of the sky.

“We are pleased with the verdict because it’s clear the coroner shares our view that Amy’s death should not count for nothing.”

The inquest was also told a tool, called a speed brace, had been included in the assembly kit when owner Anthony Benbow bought the Polish made glider secondhand, but was not referred to in the manual.

Miss Barsby, Mr Duncan, friend Martin Ling and another person had previously watched the glider being put together and were all experienced glider pilots.