Andrew Ahern, a 50-year-old former Qantas flight simulation instructor from Mosman, died on April 27 last year when his glider and another collided immediately after take-off at the Southern Tablelands Gliding Club.

"The glider he was launching crashed, nosediving into the ground from about 30 metres, after another glider which was coming in to land, collided with [it] and irretrievably damaged the tail," acting Coroner Mary Jerram said in her findings on Thursday.

Ms Jerram found that a host of factors had contributed to the crash, including the fact that the two gliders were taking off and landing from the same runway because the grass on the club's second runway had been allowed to grow too long.

At the crucial take-off point on this runway a row of pine trees obscured the view for those on the ground of any aircraft that were coming in to land.

The NSW Coroner's Court heard contradictory evidence about whether those on the ground had made a thorough check of the sky before giving Mr Ahern and his co-pilot Lindsay Gamble the all-clear to take off, particularly the "wingman" on the day in question.

Further exacerbating the situation was apparent confusion among the members of the club about who was responsible for the different tasks involved in take-off and landing, and who, ultimately, was in charge of the entire activity.

"Time and time again I heard evidence of confusion about ultimate responsibility," Ms Jerram said in her findings. "Surely when anything becomes the responsibility of all it is in fact the responsibility of none."

Adding to the confusion surrounding the incident were the haphazard rules about the use of on-board radios among Australian glider users.

While radios are not compulsory, pilots who have them are required to use them when taking off and landing. But those on the ground are not required to respond to these calls and they often go unacknowledged.

There was evidence that the radio in Mr Ahern's plane was not working properly.

There was also confusion and differences of opinion about the role of co-pilot Lindsay Gamble.

A report by the Gliding Federation of Australia found that Mr Gamble, as the club's designated "pilot in command", was in charge of the operation.

"No individual can be blamed for any specific failure or act leading to the collision," Ms Jerram said.

"Nevertheless, perhaps they had become over-confident, complacent and reluctant to face the technological changes in the world which mock an old sport based on the winds and silence.

"The entire procedure depended on fairly amateur rules and traditions which were subject to human error at any time."

But Mr Ahern's wife, Dr Catherine Brassill, said an independent audit was needed.

"Within six years [of the accident] there had been three accidents occasioning two fatalities and two other people seriously injured," Dr Brassill said.

"CASA [the Civial Aviation Safety Authority] did nothing and GFA [Gliding Federation Australia] did nothing."