The pilot reported that, before a local flight, he placed the airplane’s wing and canopy covers and his small dog in the baggage compartment of the Lancair Legacy.
During the initial climb, after retracting the landing gear, the cockpit canopy, which tips forward for entry into the cockpit, came unlatched and opened to about a 45° angle. He attempted to close and relatch the canopy to no avail and decided to return to the departure airport in Friday Harbor, Washington.
After extending the landing gear on final, the airplane lost speed, and the descent rate increased. He applied full power, but the airplane landed hard and short of the runway, and the landing gear collapsed.
The pilot reported that the airplane had an after-market, drop-down step kit that had been removed. However, while the step mechanism had been removed, the brackets that extended into the baggage compartment had been overlooked. The brackets were attached to the canopy latching mechanism, and he believed his dog accidently hit the protruding brackets and inadvertently opened the canopy in flight.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the center wing spar.
The pilot reported that, before the canopy opened, there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable cause: The pilot’s inability to maintain the landing flare, which resulted in the airplane landing hard short of the runway. Contributing to the accident was the cockpit canopy opening in flight.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA104
This January 2018 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Was it a female dog? Ain’t that a bitch.
Did the dog survive?????
The mistakes add up. Lets not dwell on the possibility of the dog accidentally stepping on a mechanism that caused the canopy to release and see what was done wrong after the canopy had opened. First he tried to close the canopy, many pilots have tried closing canopies and doors that came open unexpectedly. I have yet to hear from anyone that ever had success at that, in fact most aircraft flight manuals say it is impossible so do not try. Then on final he neglected to allow for the extra drag of the open canopy and allowed the airplane to descend rapidly and and impact the ground causing substantial damage. There is only one proper course of action and that is to try to ignore the gaping hole and land at the earliest possible opportunity in a safe manor. Any open door/canopy can have a dramatic effect on the aircraft’s drag (and possibly some control responses) so reduce the airspeed if in cruise configuration, try to fly a normal approach but keep the power up until you know how the aircraft will respond in landing configuration.That is just good judgement which seems to go out the window (literally) when something pops open unexpectedly. Too bad, that is a nice aircraft and might not ever get back into the air.
Instructions from a Lancair operating handbook that I assume would apply to most if not all Lancairs – “UNLATCHED CANOPY IN FLIGHT The Canopy must not be opened in flight. Doing so may cause it to separate from the aircraft possibly injuring the occupants in the process. Should a latch become disengaged from the locked position, slow the aircraft to approximately 85 kts and attempt to relock. If unable to lock, land as soon as practical”.
That is the worst “the dog ate my homework” excuse I have ever heard!