A glider pilot who died while competing in the national championships near the Queensland-NSW border has been named as Simon Brown from Victoria.
Gliding Federation of Australia president Peter Cesco revealed his death on social media on Tuesday.
The Gliding Club of Victoria member was taking part in the 37th National Gliding Championships at Goondiwindi Airport on Monday when his aircraft crashed at speed into the ground.
Mr Cesco said Mr Brown was an "experienced glider pilot" who was well known across the country.
"Our thoughts and condolences are with Simon's family and his many gliding friends," he said.
Mr Brown, who was believed to be in his 70s, was seen flying his single-seat glider "straight for a few minutes" before it descended "vertically at high speed into the ground", he said.
The ferocity of the crash was such that the first person on the scene had trouble finding the wreckage.
Investigators from the GFA, police and coroner's office are now trying to work out what happened.
Mr Cesco says possible medical issues, records and weather conditions will all be examined, while a flight reconstruction also will be carried out.
"Members will appreciate that more investigations are required before firm conclusions can be drawn," he said.
Mr Brown became the third person in three weeks to die in gliding crashes in Queensland's Darling Downs region.
Instructor Jeremy Thompson, 62, and student Norbert Gross, 60, were killed when their glider crashed into a paddock at Bowenville, west of Toowoomba, on September 19.
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