A FAMILY was in shock today after losing a much-loved father in a tragic glider crash on holiday in Spain.

Derek Holland, 62, of Roman Avenue, Stamford Bridge, died on Friday on the fifth day of a gliding holiday at Segovia.

His wife, Jill, today spoke of her grief as she and her family tried to comprehend what had happened.

She was preparing to embark on a long-awaited holiday to see the Passion Plays in Oberammergau, an event which only happens every ten years, when she heard the news of her husband's accident.

She said: "We know very, very little - that's what's so awful about it."

Mr Holland, a retired railway signalling engineer, had gone out to Spain to fly in a plane which had been taken out there by the Yorkshire Gliding Club.

Mrs Holland said: "Gliding was his hobby, and as far as I know he used to glide from about the age of 18 and he also instructed.

"All we know is that both the people in Spain with whom he went, and the people at the gliding club here, said he was a very good pilot and very careful, so you can imagine how stunned we are."

Mr and Mrs Holland had been married for 32 years, and have a son and a daughter in their 20s.

Mrs Holland said: "He loved gliding and I suppose if you look at it that way it was a good way to go, but it's not any consolation."

Mr Holland's body was reportedly discovered in mountains near Madrid after an intensive search.

An investigation into Mr Holland's death is being carried out by a Spanish judge.

Mr Holland was involved in the local Liberal Democrat party.

PICTURE: Derek Holland: loved gliding