ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 210421
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| Date: | Friday 2 May 1997 |
| Time: | 11:25 |
| Type: | Howard Hughes GA-55 Lightwing I |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | 25-0434 |
| MSN: | 076 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Tartrus Station, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Tartrus Station, QLD |
| Tartrus Station, QLD | |
| Investigating agency: | BASI |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot and the passenger, who was also the owner of the aircraft, performed a pre-flight check of the aircraft. Seated at the right control position, the pilot then taxied the aircraft for departure with the intention of conducting cross wind circuits. The airstrip was aligned approximately 020 degrees magnetic. Shortly after take-off, when the aircraft was about tree top height, the passenger became aware that the aircraft did not appear to be performing normally. At about the same time the pilot assessed that the nose attitude was too steep. He lowered the nose and felt the aircraft descend. He confirmed that the throttle was set at full power and, assuming that the aircraft was stalling, lowered the nose further. When the aircraft continued to descend, the pilot attempted to land in an area about 100 metres beyond the end of the airstrip. The aircraft collided with a stack of several large posts and concrete pipes, and came to rest inverted 120 metres from the northern end of the airstrip, but displaced about 50 metres to the west of the airstrip alignment. Both the pilot and the passenger sustained serious injuries. At the time of the takeoff the pilot had estimated that there was an easterly crosswind of about five knots, with a headwind component of about three knots. The windsock was located to the north west of, and close to the hangar and farm buildings. A worker employed on Tartrus reported that the wind had been a light south-easterly. The pilot normally flew and instructed in Cessna C172 or Piper PA28 type aircraft. He held an Australian Ultralight Federation pilot's certificate, but had limited experience flying ultralight aircraft. He had previously flown the aircraft at Tartrus Station four or five times. Both the pilot and the passenger indicated that although the engine seemed to operate normally the aircraft had lacked performance. The passenger noticed that when the nose of the aircraft was aligned approximately with the horizon, the aircraft was descending. She was aware that there was a large performance degradation with two people on board and would normally fly the aircraft alone. When flying with a passenger she preferred the cooler hours of the day and would make as much use of ground effect as possible after lift-off.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1997/aair/199701420/
https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/4930814/199701420.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-May-2018 07:25 | Pineapple | Added |
| 07-May-2018 16:25 | Pineapple | Updated [Damage] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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