ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 245638
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| Date: | Sunday 13 September 2020 |
| Time: | 09:00 LT |
| Type: |  Comco Ikarus C 42 |
| Owner/operator: | Airbourne Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | G-CFHP |
| MSN: | 0805-6972 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2008 |
| Engine model: | Rotax 912-UL |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Porthtowan near Perranporth Airfield, Cornwall -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Perranporth Airfield (EGTP) |
| Perranporth Airfield (EGTP) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Comco Ikrarus C42 G-CFHP: Substantially damaged 13 September 2020 at Porthtowan, near Perranporth, Cornwall. Nose gear collapsed on landing. According to a rough translation into English from German of the original BFU Germany report (see link #1 for the original Germany text):
"Event: Accident without injuries
Date, time: 13.09.2020, 9.45 a.m. (local)
Location, State: Perranporth, United Kingdom
Damage to aircraft: Seriously damaged
Source: Investigation by a foreign authority File number: BFU20-0801-DX
The nose landing gear collapsed on landing. The BFU supports the investigation because the aircraft was designed / manufactured in Germany.
Aircraft: microlight aircraft fatally seriously injured
Pattern: COMCO IKARUS - C 42
Type of operation: General Aviation - Private Sightseeing Flight - Local sightseeing flight"
UPDATE 11 March 2021:
The CAA AAIB also investigated the incident, and the following is the summary from their final report, published on March 11 2021...
"The commander was a flight instructor and examiner and was conducting a test to renew the lapsed licence of the student. After a successful upper air exercise, the aircraft was returning to Perranporth Airfield. A parachute jump was scheduled at Perranporth and therefore the return to the airfield was delayed. The commander decided that a demonstration of the ‘Beat Method’ for a PFL would be of value. The ‘Beat Method’ involves flying a figure of eight pattern downwind of the landing site until sufficient height is lost to position the aircraft on a normal glide approach.
The commander chose to use a private airstrip at Porthtowan for the PFL demonstration and the intention was to fly the procedure to a go-around. The procedure was commenced from 1,500 ft agl, approximately one third of a nautical mile from the downwind threshold for Runway 21 at Porthtowan. The commander considered the aircraft was high for the range remaining to the airstrip and so immediately lowered full fl ap to steepen the descent. He made a left turn, followed by a right turn and then another left turn onto what he described as a right base leg for the airstrip.
The commander stated that “the steepening of the glide angle at this point subconsciously caused my focus to shift from a point one third into the runway (the initial aiming point) to an area much closer to the downwind threshold.”
The base leg track was into the wind, which was from approximately 200° at 5 kt. From this track a turn of only 20° to the right was required to align with the runway. A set of domestic power cables runs past the threshold of Runway 22 and these were at right angles to the aircraft’s into-wind track The commander’s intent was to turn onto the runway track after crossing the cables.
The commander stated: “We cleared the cables easily but, being a little lower than I had intended, delayed the right turn until completely clear of them, which meant the aircraft ended up a few metres to the south of the runway requiring a further right turn to align with the runway.”
The commander estimated that the aircraft crossed the cables between 30 and 40 ft agl. It was his opinion that the wind was a little stronger than he had anticipated and so the aircraft was not gliding as far as he originally expected. Therefore, the aircraft crossed the cables lower than intended. The commander stated that by this stage of flight his focus was so intense that he felt unaware of the other person in the cockpit.
After clearing the wires, the commander made the right turn towards the airstrip using 30 to 35° angle of bank. During the turn the right landing gear struck a fence, approximately 5 ft tall, at the edge of the airstrip. The fence arrested the aircraft’s flight, turned it to the right through 90° and caused it to strike the ground heavily, damaging both wings, the engine cowling and the nose landing gear. Neither occupant was injured, and both were able to exit the aircraft unaided"
Damage to airframe:
Per the above AAIB report "Nose landing gear leg, both wings and engine cowling damaged".
Porthtowan (Cornish: Porth Tewyn, meaning cove of sand dunes) is a small village in Cornwall, England which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about 2 km (1.2 mi) west of St Agnes, 4 km (2.5 mi) north of Redruth, 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Truro and 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Newquay
Perranporth Airfield (ICAO: EGTP) airfield is located 1.5 NM (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) southwest of Perranporth and 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) southwest of Newquay, in the village of Trevellas, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a former Second World War Royal Air Force fighter station.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. BFU20-0801-DX: https://www.bfu-web.de/DE/Publikationen/Bulletins/2020/Bulletin2020-09.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
2. AAIB Final Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/602bee49e90e07055b9d3271/Ikarus_C42_FB80_G-CFHP_03-21.pdf
3. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-cfhp
4. https://en-gb.facebook.com/bodminairfield/photos/ikarus-c42-g-cfhp-popped-in-from-perranporth-in-cornwall-for-coffee-and-as-part-/1295153360629766/
5. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-CFHP
6. https://www.planespotters.net/photo/214704
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porthtowan
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perranporth_Airfield#Postwar_use
9. http://www.perranporthflyingclub.co.uk/
Media:
Comco Ikarus C 42 G-CFHP over Perranporth, Cornwall:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Dec-2020 16:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Plane category] |
| 11-Mar-2021 21:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 11-Mar-2021 21:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Mar-2021 19:07 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Mar-2021 19:54 | harro | Updated [Narrative, Accident report] |
| 27-Jul-2021 14:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative, Category] |
| 28-Jul-2021 14:14 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Category] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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