ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 265328
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| Date: | Saturday 10 July 2021 |
| Time: | 17:30 |
| Type: | Bailey-Moyes Dragonfly |
| Owner/operator: | KHK Morningside LLC |
| Registration: | N346FL |
| MSN: | 034 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1997 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2587 hours |
| Engine model: | Rotax 912ULS |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Morningside Flight Park, Charlestown, NH -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Morningside Flight Park, NH |
| Morningside Flight Park, NH | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On July 10, 2021, at 1730 eastern daylight time, an experimental light-sport Bailey Moyes Dragonfly, N346FL, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Charleston, New Hampshire. The pilot sustained minor injuries and the passenger was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot was in the airport’s traffic pattern receiving mentoring and airplane familiarization from the passenger in the rear seat, who had been a private pilot but had his airmen and medical certificates revoked about 4 years before the accident. The pilot reported that, during the third landing, the airplane was too high while on final approach and the passenger told the pilot to perform a go-around. A witness who saw the airplane on the subsequent downwind described the airplane as being “slower and lower” than normal.
Near the end of the downwind leg, at an estimated altitude of 400 ft above ground level, the passenger yelled “something about power” according to the pilot and assumed control of the airplane. When abeam the runway threshold, with an engine speed about 3,200 rpm which was about 300 rpm below normal cruise speed, the passenger turned onto the base leg. The pilot later reported that although the airplane’s altitude was “low,” it seemed sufficient to clear the power lines located several hundred feet to the west of and nearly parallel to the runway. The pilot reported that a partial loss of engine power occurred about the same time the passenger turned the airplane onto the base leg. The airplane banked “hard” to the left, pitched nose down, and descended into one of the power lines. After the airplane impacted the ground, the engine continued to operate until the pilot shut it down.
Because the previous pattern circuit was too high on final approach and resulted in a go-around maneuver, the pilot may have overcompensated and flown the accident pattern at too low of an altitude given the power line obstruction on the base leg. The passenger was likely concerned about the approach when he took over the controls. His subsequent turn to the base leg suggests that he intended to continue in the normal traffic pattern over the power lines. Given the low altitude at the time, this decision involved significantly greater risk than extending the downwind and correcting whatever condition(s) that caused the passenger to take control.
The pilot described a partial loss of engine power about the same time the passenger made the turn to base leg, which was followed by a sharp turn to the left and a nose-down attitude just before impact with the power lines. The investigation could not determine if the reduction in engine power was due to a failure or malfunction or was intentionally commanded by the passenger in an attempt to avoid the power lines. Postaccident examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have resulted in a partial loss of engine power.
Toxicology testing for the passenger, who was flying the airplane at the time of the collision with the power line, was positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive chemical in cannabis and hashish and its metabolites. The levels detected may have been sufficient to cause significant impairing effects; however, they do not indicate the severity of THC-related impairment or whether such impairment contributed to the accident. Therefore, whether impairing effects of the passenger’s THC use contributed to the accident could not be determined.
Probable Cause: The passenger’s decision to continue an unstable approach while at low altitude and in proximity to a known obstacle, which resulted in a collision with power lines.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wmur.com/amp/article/emergency-personnel-respond-to-plane-crash-in-charlestown/36989263
https://www.unionleader.com/news/safety/aircraft-crash-reported-in-charlestown/article_4df2f8b0-7372-5bd4-adb0-2006b0c50aa8.html
NTSB
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N346FL
http://pitmanair.com/dragonfly/
http://flymorningside.kittyhawk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MFP-Trail-Map-0615-3a-INT-1-scaled.jpg
https://flymorningside.kittyhawk.com/
https://www.airport-data.com/images/aircraft/000/588/588557.jpg (photo)
Location
Images:
Media:
The NTSB is investigating the crash Saturday of a Dragonfly Ultralight in Charlestown, New Hampshire.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) July 11, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jul-2021 05:48 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 11-Jul-2021 08:17 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 11-Jul-2021 21:27 | Geno | Updated [Source, Plane category] |
| 12-Jul-2021 12:46 | RobertMB | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Jul-2021 15:53 | Anon. | Updated [Phase, Source] |
| 21-Jul-2021 17:22 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
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