MALTA: An Irish pilot survived an accident yesterday in which Swedish aerobatics champion Gabor Varga was killed after his stunt plane collided with a second aircraft during a race in Malta.
Roscommon man Eddie Goggins parachuted to safety after the two propellor-driven planes crashed into the sea a few hundred metres off Valletta during the Aero GP competition, according to witnesses.
One of the aircraft had begun to lose altitude and slammed into the other, officials said. Both then fell into the sea near the entrance to Marsamxett harbour.
Eddie Goggins (36), a dentist with a practice in Dublin, is one of Ireland's most accomplished aerobatic pilots. He has been flying for 18 years and has been a flying instructor for more than four years.
Gabor Varga was in the Guinness Book of Records for performing the greatest number of aerobatic loops in an hour - 256.
The Aero GP includes an air race, one-on-one dogfights, target bombing and flying duels.