On Feb. 2, 2019, an Airborne Windsports Edge X weight-shift-control aircraft was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Jumbolair Airport (17FL), in Ocala, Florida. The noncertificated pilot died in the crash.
During a post-accident interview, a friend of the pilot said he was driving away from the airport when he saw the aircraft take off and climb to about 100 to 125 feet above ground level. The aircraft then veered left and right, briefly flew straight, and seemed “to be pushed” to the right.
Afterward, the nose dropped, and the aircraft hit the ground in a nose-low attitude. The pilot’s friend reported the engine “never missed a lick.”
During a separate post-accident interview, the pilot’s friend also described that the engine was at full power during the climbout and that the wings were “wagging” before the aircraft crashed.
The pilot’s friend stated that he had been flying with the pilot since 2001 and had made about 25 to 30 flights with him, during which he rode in the back seat. The pilot’s friend estimated that the pilot had about 40 to 50 hours of total flight experience in weight-shift-control aircraft.
According to a friend of the witness to the accident, his friend had been providing the pilot with flight instruction for about a year, and the accident flight was the pilot’s first solo flight. The friend of the witness showed a video from his friend’s social media account depicting the aircraft taxiing to the runway and a verbal statement indicating that the pilot was making his “first solo and he was probably nervous right about now.”
A search of FAA airman records revealed that the pilot did not hold a student pilot certificate. The friend of the pilot also did not possess a pilot or flight instructor certificate.
A post-accident examination revealed that the aircraft hit the ground about 300 feet west of Runway 36 on a magnetic heading of 330°. The fuselage was on its side with the nose crushed up to the engine area. The right wing was broken midspan, and the left wing was intact.
Examination of the engine and fuel system revealed no preaccident discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation. The aircraft was equipped with a whole-airframe ballistic parachute system, which was found partially deployed.
Probable Cause: The noncertificated pilot’s exceedance of the aircraft’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
This February 2019 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.
I’m and aircraft mechanic and I have helped find what causes accidents .
With learning to fly there should be a medical and instruction and the instructor should sit the student down before and tell the student everything that could happen and the driffence between one person and 2 person ( weight and balance ) than the student should only do a solo in the craft he has learnt to fly. The studen should be very confident in front of the instructor before approval of a solo flight.
It is sad when accidents happen I have seen were pilots were not sure or were never told minor details that could have save their lives and some things are minor but important and instructors should be examined and it should be free for them as small regulatory changes will make it a safer sport
I’ve been flying airplanes since 1951 and I will be taking a flight review next month which I expect to complete successfully. I am Commercial, CFI, Instrument and Multi engine rated. Without digging out my logbook I have about 3750 hrs in acft.
Weight shift flying is different. I flew HG from 1973 to 2018 as well as civil acft until back trouble and long drives to good flying sites have made me quit. HG flights started at 30 seconds and went to over 6 hours when I just went down to pee and get a drink of water. I’ve flown in a number of places in the US and Europe and worked with the USHPA in several areas including representation to the FAA and the FAI. Our reputation with the FAA is very good.
In the US, the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA) trains and certifies Instructors and the Hang Gliding Manufacturers Asssn (HGMA) organizes testing and certification of hang gliders. Scott is wrong in his analysis of the situation. US certification requires that a glider must withstand plus or minus 6 Gs with a special truck mounted balance system on a suitable runway.. More like a fighter than civil airplanes. Much thought has gone into them.
This light sport aircraft was Australian and I have no idea of their certification standards but all HG and PG manufacturers monitor one another and the Aussies supply sport pilot tow planes for HG to most of the world so I think they’re specs are similar to ours. That’s about double what civil light aircraft have to meet. I doublt that it broke up in flight.
From something I read, it sounded like the deceased pilot had sat behind the owner on all flights. If that was the case, he never would have hands on the basebar that controls the airplane. Move the basebar to the right and it flys to the left, and vice versa. He could not have adequately learned to fly from the back seat. I ran a HG school for several years. You need to take time to build the proper respect necessary to fly HG. They are just as safe as you are and no better. They will warn you but it
is more subtle than most private airplanes which are lapdogs. Flying a HG is being a hawk in the sky.,
Google Windsports Edge X. Manual is downloadable It’s one common trike design of many all over the world and have been flying for years with few problems. Just a cage with an engine, seat and prop attached to HG.
This is a criminal case.
Non pilot/instructor showing how to fly. Less the truthful with the investigator. Unfortunately, I agree 🙁
All pilots become better pilots after they’re dead.
It was the pilot’s first solo. Previously he had flown 50 hours with an instructor, and accustomed to those flight conditions. At least two possibilities: 1) His general skill level was not adequate for solo; or 2) he failed to account for the difference in W&B without the other person.
GAN Editor:
I think that the reports on fatal accidents like the one in today’s newsletter are of no help to aviation. Unless, morbid and tragic.
It would be better to report on something else.
Actually, the things to learn from this report;
– get a student pilot certificate and a medical to train to fly an aircraft
– train with an actual flight instructor, not someone who has flown the aircraft, and also has no cerificates.
– fly a registered aircraft that you know is airworthy.
Online flight tests of this light sport aircraft report that the stall characteristics are benign and easy to recover from.
So the observed takeoff indicates that there was some abnormal condition , or the person flying panicked and forced the wing to a negative angle of attack.?
Seeing nothing in the witness account to support the probable cause theory. Sounds more like structural failure unidentifiable after crashing.