Amy Barsby, from Longridge, who died in a glider crash.
A young pilot plunged 1,000ft to her death when the wings fell off the glider she had assembled.
PhD student Amy Barsby had put together the rented 1966 Polish-made Foka 4 glider with her boyfriend Bruce Duncan – a gliding instructor – and a friend, but a vital bolt connecting the wings had not fully engaged as the wrong tool had been supplied.
Mr Duncan told the inquest into his girlfriend’s death that on the morning of the accident in August 2010, at Bicester airfield in Oxfordshire, the enthusiasts assembled the glider once and then took it apart again, concerned they had not done it properly.
Miss Barsby, 25, a silver grade pilot with nine years’ experience of flying, then completed a test run without incident.
Mr Duncan, from Edinburgh, who had bought a house with his girlfriend of seven years shortly before the tragedy, told how the glider launched normally the second time, but added: ‘I turned around and saw the wings separate.’
He had been securing the wing tip to keep the glider stable just before launch, and said everything appeared to be 'absolutely normal' with the aircraft.
Describing what happened next, he 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 Mr Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said: 'I'm sure it was very distressing for you.'
The Oxford hearing was told Miss Barsby, who grew up in Longridge, Lancashire, but lived in Edinburgh, suffered ‘non-survivable’ multiple injuries. The wings were found about 160 yards away from the fuselage.
There were between 25 and 30 witnesses to the accident, including Mr Duncan.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that part of the lower bolt, used to join the wings together, had sheared off after the glider launched for the second time, at a greater speed than during the first launch.
When the two bolts were out of synchronisation, the wings could only bear half of the aerodynamic load they are supposed to, which caused them to detach from the body of the glider.
Mr Duncan, who had been in a relationship with Miss Barsby for seven years, told the inquest the glider's structure was different from any he or his girlfriend had experienced in the past.
The jury recorded a verdict of accidental death. Coroner Gardiner and Miss Barsby’s parents urged changes to the design of similar gliders to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
The mechanical failure happened as there was no way for Miss Barsby and her friends to check that a bolt holding the wings in place was in the right position, the hearing was told.
They had also unwittingly used the wrong tool to tighten the bolt.
It was the first time Miss Barsby, who had been gliding since she was 16, had assembled that specific model of glider but she had previously watched its owner put it together.
Speaking after the verdict was given, Miss Barsby's father Steven said: 'It is dreadful that actions have not been taken before now. It seems to have a simple remedy and we are not talking huge expenses for people to put this right.
'It takes a bit of understanding as to why something's not been done already.'
His wife, Helen agreed that is was 'essential' that safety changes were made as soon as possible.
Mr Barsby said: 'Amy was passionate about gliding. It was a sport that brought great joy and exhilaration to her short life, and also it brought with it a wealth of good friends.
'It is a consolation to us to know that her death came instantly and she bore no suffering.'
Amy Barsby had accumulated more than 226 flying hours in 531 flights.
She had graduated from Edinburgh University and was studying at Queen's University in Belfast.
She had been studying the links between trace elements in soils and waters and human diseases, specifically cancer, and was described by her colleagues in Belfast as 'a gentle and well-liked young woman who loved and actively pursued both academic research and sporting interests'.
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