Return to the incident list: Incident List Low altitude Motor out under Full Power PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 42 Weight: 220 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: MacPara Eden 2 30 meter DHV1-2 Size: Paramotor Frame: Fresh Breeze Simonini 122, ~ 85 lbs. with

Incident Details

January 2, 2007 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

Mr. Murphy has wanted to be friends with me for about the past month sticking his head around the corner every couple of days of flying time. The problem I have had is one of two wires breaking that go to the ignition coil. I had to add wire as when the original connector broke, they became too short to reach. I have tried butt connectors and male/female spade connectors. Twice on previous launches, I launched and had the wire brake just after launching. Other than an emergency landing after only getting 20 to 30′ in the air, it was a non issue and I landed safely. Today, I had been flying for about 5 minutes and was flying along a wet sandy area we normally can’t fly. Today, the tide was out making the area accessible. I had been flying at about 5 to 10′ altitude and had just decided to go to full power and climb up out of the area before I got too close to a rough shoreline (boulders, tall bushes, etc). A few seconds into the full power climb, my motor died. Murphy said “Hello”, and I responded with an appropriate greeting. I was in the position with a high angle of attack and low to the ground. I’m guessing I was at least 20′, maybe 25′. When the motor died, I had maybe 2 seconds before I did what felt was like a straight vertical drop. I don’t think it was a parachutal stall, but rather an oscillation that timed itself with a probably small gust so that I didn’t feel the pendulum effect. I knew it was going to be potentially bad. Two seconds later, my vertical descent put my left leg hitting the ground first going to my knees. The wing came over and to my side, a wind gust caught it, and drug me about 5′ in the sand. The wing landed on the dry sand, I landed on the wet sand. I was wearing hiking boots, and other than a sore left leg/ankle, no body damage. The bottom of the cage absorbed some of the impact and pushed closer to the prop, but was still flyable (after I fixed the wire, with hopefully a permanent fix this time). This accident was caused by Pilot Error for two points. One, I should have made a permanent fix a top priority, and two, I should not have went to full power at such a low altitude that combined with a motor out, became a painful reminder why high power low altitude climbs should be avoided.

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):

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