Ultralight Incidents
The pilot of an Air Creation departed St-Mathieu-de-Beloeil airport in Quebec during the morning of December 3, 2001, for a VFR flight to Île St-Marc à St-Ours. The aircraft was reported missing later in the day when it did not arrive at its destination. After a search conducted as a result of reports of smoke and flames earlier in the day, the aircraft was found in a field north of Beloeil around 0405Z on December 4.
The two occupants were killed; the aircraft was destroyed by fire. There was enough fuel for five hours of flying on board. The aircraft was not equipped with an emergency locator transmitter (ELT). The weather was VFR throughout the period.
The pilot of a ski-equipped Lil Buzzard was taxiing for departure on Cache Lake when one main landing gear axle broke, with additional damage to the propeller, undercarriage and fuselage. The pilot was alone and uninjured as a result of the mishap.
The Buckeye Industries powered parachute was being operated from a grass field next to some power lines. The aircraft became airborne and started a turn to the east. The pilot was unable to correct the situation, and the canopy and lines became entangled in the power lines. The cart contacted the ground, causing damage to the fan, fan shroud and landing gear. The parachute was torn by the power lines. The pilot received some bruising during the impact.
The Ultravia Pelican Club was spotted by a nearby resident about 500 yards from the shore upside down on a shoal. The pilot uses the backyard of his property as a take-off and landing area for his ultralight aircraft. The property is part of the Lake Huron shoreline. He was flying low over the water, at approximately five feet AGL, as he approached for landing. Approximately 500 yards from the end of the runway, the landing wheels struck the water. The aircraft flipped, incurring substantial damage. The pilot, who remained at the scene, was uninjured.
The TSB Duty Investigator noted that the pilot has been involved in previous accidents in 1991, 1993, 1994 and two accidents in 1997. The operational safety message in this report as outlined by the chain of accidents suggests that the pilot is either poorly trained or is simply operating on the edge, taking too many risks that result in multiple accidents. Ed.
On March 20, 2001, the pilot of a ski-equipped Pelican Club departed the Saint John Airport for a local pleasure flight. During the flight, the engine, a Rotax 532, began to run rough and lose power. The pilot proceeded to carry out an uneventful precautionary landing on the river. He found the source of the engine failure was an unclamped engine primer line that had worked loose. The loose line resulted in air being sucked into the fuel system, which affected the engines ability to produce full power. Once the line was securely reattached, the pilot elected to taxi back to the departure area, near his home. During taxi, both skis contacted an ice ridge, causing the gear to fail; as the aircraft came to rest on its belly, the wooden propeller was broken. The pilot was not injured.
The pilot and passenger of a Zenair Zodiac advanced ultralight, were returning to St. Albert after a flight to Drayton Valley, Alberta, when the engine quit. The pilot made a forced landing in hilly terrain, causing extensive damage to the landing gear. The occupants were not injured. The engine had only 10 hr. at the time of the occurrence. The pilot had refuelled prior to the flight and had been airborne about 1 hr. and 45 min. Transport Canada maintenance personnel examined the aircraft and found that both the left and right tanks feed fuel to the engine by gravity flow and that there is no fuel tank selector to the engine. Each tank is equipped with an electric fuel gauge. After the hard landing, the right-hand fuel gauge indicated 3/4 full even though there were only three litres of fuel left in the right tank (empty for all intents and purposes). The left tank had about 35 L of fuel left, which was indicated by the left fuel gauge. These indications suggest that there was an unserviceable fuel gauge on the right side and suspected fuel restriction from the left tank that could have starved the engine of fuel.
The pilot of a Birdman Chinook experienced an engine failure on approach to the airport at Whitehorse; however, he made an emergency landing at nearby Schwatka Lake. The pilot/owner determined that the engine quit as a result of fuel exhaustion. Since he had just acquired the aircraft, he was not very familiar with it and apparently this aircraft has no fuel gauges. His flight time was calculated using a cruising burn rate; however, he suspects that his burn rate may have increased because he was using a higher power setting to avoid approaching inclement weather conditions.
Running out of fuel is rarely excusable and should not be taken lightly. Fuel management is the pilots responsibility. A knowledge of the fuel flow and the amount of fuel in the tank when starting the trip, plus reserve fuel to meet contingency and legal requirements for the flight, is essential. Not knowing the precise flow rate would be more prudently dealt with by the addition of contingency fuel. Fuel management boils down to four things: a confirmed amount of fuel at the start of a trip, burn rate, a timepiece, and sufficient extra fuel to meet legal requirements and en route contingencies. Ed. The Quad City Challenger had departed on skis from the snow area west of Taxiway Alpha in Thompson, Manitoba, when the FSS operator noticed the aircraft descend and disappear from sight after takeoff. The operator activated crash response procedures. Shortly thereafter, information was received that the aircraft had landed safely and that the pilot had restarted the engine and would taxi to the apron. Further information indicated that the cause of the incident was a stuck primer check valve that resulted in fuel starvation. There were no injuries or damage to the aircraft.
The Terratorn Tierra II had reached an altitude of about 50 ft after takeoff from Barrhead, Alberta, when the engine lost power. The pilot landed straight ahead; however, he was seriously injured during the process and his aircraft received substantial damage.
The pilot was operating a Six-Chuter Skye Rider powered parachute in the vicinity of Aldergrove, British Columbia, when the parachute collapsed. The machine plummeted to the ground, seriously injuring the pilot and sole occupant, although the injuries were not life-threatening.
The pilot of an amateur-built Murphy Rebel was conducting a VFR flight from Parry Sound, Ontario, to Sundridge airport. As he was about to land on the snow-plowed runway, a gust of wind from the right caused the aircraft to drift left, allowing the left main landing gear to contact a snow bank outside the confines of the runway. The aircraft then veered to the right side of the runway. The right main landing gear became embedded in a snow bank and the aircraft overturned and came to rest inverted, tearing off the gear and damaging the fuselage, tail fin and propeller in the process. The pilot, who was the sole occupant of the aircraft, was not injured.