That was until April 27, 2013 when Andrew Ahern died at the Carrick airfield.

“Unfortunately the club had an unfortunate incident,” Mr Veal told an inquest into Mr Ahern’s death on Tuesday.

He said there had been two accidents at the club, the last one in 2008.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Peter Aitken asked whether that included a fatality on September 1, 2007.

“Yes,” Mr Veal replied.

He was referring to the death of 64-year-old Queanbeyan man Peter Moran who died soon after his glider was winched into the air, banked to the left and crashed to the ground.

The Post also reported on a July 2008 crash in which a 56-year-old Goulburn man clipped power lines as he was landing. He sustained leg injuries.

On Tuesday, Mr Aitken questioned Mr Veal about the role radios played in ground operations on the day of Mr Ahern’s death.

Mr Veal said while radios were important, one couldn’t rely solely on them.

“The pilot has to make the decision on what’s safe and where it’s more convenient to land,” he told the inquest.

“People on the ground can’t direct him…It is not our place.”

Mr Aitken said this posed a problem if the pilot was not aware of what was happening on the ground.

“Then he should not be flying,” Mr Veal replied.

“He should keep it visible at all times.”

But he acknowledged that a pilot would be justified in thinking that ground crew were keeping an eye on the launch site, where Mr Ahern and the Blanik glider were located.

“That’s the failure, isn’t it – that distractions on the ground led to this tragedy?” Mr Aitken asked.

“Absolutely,” Mr Veal replied.

The inquest heard that Mr Veal did not hear a takeoff call from the Blanik from his position operating the winch, some 1.7km away. This didn’t mean it didn’t happen but he could have been distracted doing any number of things.

There were two other key communication points – the wingman next to the Blanik and the communications van, or pie cart, positioned some 40 metres away. The inquest heard that the view of the sky was impeded by the pie cart’s orientation and its radio was set to a broader frequency than the other two points. Mr Veal told Mr Aitken this was “abnormal.”

There were also visitors to the airfield that day. Mr Veal said the person manning the pie cart had to ensure they were kept away from air operations. 

“He may also have been training people so there were any number of things that could have distracted him from the radio, as long as it was not compromising ground operations,” he said.

At the winch end, Mr Veal said he could not see the incoming Nimbus piloted by Mr Jolly as it was “a very small target.” When a white glider was front on, set against a white sky, it was especially difficult. 

But earlier he had heard the call from the Blanik telling him to “take up slack,” meaning to pull in the attached cable. Mr Veal said he wouldn’t have expected this call if the airstrip hadn’t been clear.

But no one saw the Nimbus until it was too late and a “stop, stop, stop,” call was heard on the radio.

The inquest heard the club had trialled headsets as a means of overcoming radio communication problems and had shifted the pie cart so it was more visible to incoming gliders. The latter was mandatory under safe operating procedures.

Solicitor for the Ahern family, Dominic Toomey challenged Mr Veal over his claim that overall safety was the pilot’s responsibility.

“So in a scenario where a duty pilot is not manning the radio, a craft is coming downwind, the view from the pie cart is hampered and a line of pine trees is present, how can a pilot know it is safe to land if his call that he is joining the circuit (coming in to land) is not acknowledged?” he asked.

“He could not know if he was past the trees,” Mr Veal replied.

He agreed with Mr Toomey that in these circumstances it made it all the more important to have separate landing and takeoff strips rather than the single one on that day.