The inexperience of a pilot who was killed when his plane stalled and crashed last year was a likely factor in the incident.
That
was the finding of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), which
has published its report into the cause of the fatal crash at Redhill
Aerodrome in August 2013.
The 57-year-old pilot was doing a series of short circuits at the time, which involved taking off and landing briefly.
The
AAIB report said: "The sudden power reduction, the pilot’s relative
inexperience and the limited time available to react appropriately are
likely factors in the pilot not lowering the nose before the aircraft
stalled.
"There was then insufficient height available for the
pilot to effect a recovery from the stall before ground impact. No
definitive cause of the engine power loss could be determined."
Investigators
suggested the propeller may have struck the ground during a previous
landing when the aircraft, a Rans S6 Coyote II, bounced on the runway.
"Examination
of the runway surface did not identify any evidence associated with a
propeller strike - however, the ground was dry and hard which may have
prevented the formation of propeller strike marks.
"The nose of
the aircraft had been severely compressed and pushed upwards and
rearwards, causing disruption to the cockpit area."
According to
the AAIB, a pilot whose plane is losing power should lower the nose to
prevent it stalling, something which did not happen on this occasion
with the aircraft continuing to climb until it stalled.
"The windmilling propeller would have created extra drag on the aircraft, reducing the aircraft’s airspeed," added the report.
"Additionally,
the lack of any radio transmission after the power loss may indicate
that the pilot became overwhelmed by the situation.
"Nevertheless,
if the pilot had been able to lower the aircraft’s nose before it
stalled, he may been in a position to maintain a safe airspeed and
perform a forced landing."
'No Mayday call'
A post-mortem examination found the pilot died of head and chest injuries sustained in the impact.
The crash occurred at around 11.20am on August 28 last year just as the pilot was entering his third circuit.
Soon
afterwards, a statement from Redhill Aerodrome said: "There was no
Mayday call nor did the pilot report anything unusual to ATC [air
traffic control] prior to the accident."
The plane was owned by a syndicate which the pilot, who had 63 hours' flying experience, was secretary of.
Speaking
about his experience, the report said: "The pilot commenced his
training for his National Private Pilot’s License (Airplanes) in
September 2011 on an Ikarus C42.
"His instructor commented that the pilot had progressed rather slowly through the syllabus but that his approach was methodical.
"His
handling of slow-speed flying was described as satisfactory and he had
practiced numerous forced landings and emergencies, including engine
failures after take-off, completing these to a satisfactory standard."
Source Article: http://www.getsurrey.co.uk
More coverage:
Wreckage removed for examination
Recap: Redhill Aerodrome crash
Pilot dies in microlight plane crash
Accident Report: http://www.aaib.gov.uk
http://www.caa.co.uk/G-MYSP
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/pdf
Synopsis
The pilot was practicing visual circuits and was climbing away after a touch-and-go landing
when the aircraft’s engine was heard to falter. The aircraft was seen to slow in a climbing
attitude before stalling and entering a vertical dive from which it did not recover. The pilot
was fatally injured.
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/pdf
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment