Darius Liaugaudas wins three Lithuanian gliding titles after crash

Darius Liaugaudas has won three Lithuanian gliding championships since a 2013 crash left him unable to walk, LRT reports. He has been national champion 17 times in total.

“I thought I would never fly again,” Liaugaudas said, recalling the crash. He was competing at the Lithuanian championships in Pociūnai when, while landing, he forgot to lower the landing wheel. As he tried to release it, he let go of the control stick. The glider tilted at about 10 metres above the ground, and he crashed at more than 100 kilometres per hour. He learned several months later that he would not be able to walk.

Despite his spinal injury, Liaugaudas returned to gliding. The sport allows pilots with disabilities to compete on equal terms with non-disabled athletes, he said.

He has been interested in aviation since childhood. His uncle was a pilot who flew aerobatic aircraft and gliders and worked for many years as an Aeroflot pilot. Liaugaudas first flew at age 11, travelling from Vilnius to Simferopol in Crimea in the cockpit with his uncle. As an adult, he also tried piloting a Cessna, but says he prefers the quiet of a glider.

Glider pilots must assess weather and conditions on the ground, especially when landing away from an airfield. Liaugaudas said he made four or five such landings during competitions this year, choosing a suitable spot by judging the wind, terrain and vegetation. The gliding season lasts about six months, with flights beginning as early as March and gliders dismantled in autumn.

Liaugaudas also shares videos of his flights and competitions on YouTube. He says glider pilots are well prepared to land safely if an aircraft engine fails because they understand how to keep an aircraft gliding.