Return to the incident list: Incident List Poor decision -> crash right after launch PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 53 Weight: 220 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Swing Arcus//dhv1-2 Size: Paramotor Frame: HE120 engine//iFlyer frame//wt55lb+ fuel with

Incident Details

April 7, 2006 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

It was a forward inflation into a light breeze, and after a longish run I was airborn. I then banked hard to the right, sank out and crash landed on a wing lying on the ground. BTW, the wing I ruined was one that I’d sold to the poor owner a just few weeks earlier. No one was injured in the incident, but the crash landing occurred very near my flying pals; this story could’ve just as well had a sad ending. As with most accidents like this, there’s usually a initial lapse in good judgment that begins a chain of events, that then leads to the bad outcome. In this case I did not allow enough running room to launch with a motor/wing with which I was still somewhat unfamiliar. I also had just switched my throttle to the left-hand; the throttle change had me fumbling slightly on inflation, thus increasing the ground run. At the moment of lift-off I failed to abort even though an upwind tree line had become a little too close. Once I was aloft, there was no undoing the poor launch decisions. Due to the gearbox redrive, my motor ‘wants’ to torque-turn to the left. Upon launching I realized I was tree-trapped and could only turn to the right, thus critically reducing my climb rate. To stay out of tree-trouble, I completed a 100+ degree right turn at about 15′ AGL. The incident was video’d from start to finish; when I listen to the sound track, I can hear there was a moment of uncertainty when I actually backed off the throttle during the ill-advised low turn. To sum it up, the motor was running fine, and the flight conditions were fine; my sink-out was caused by factors following a bad launch decision. My wallet and pride are slowly recovering, but the video is still hard to watch. Obvious lesson..This is a chain of events could have been completely avoided if I had set up my launch 100′ farther back. TerryL

Flight Window: Wind Speed: Type: Phase of Flight: Type of Injury: Collateral Damage: Analysis of the incident (additional input by the incident investigation team): Photos (if available):

Video (if available):
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