Return to the incident list: Incident List Loose hose clamp screw through prop PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 36 Weight: 200 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Paratoys 30 Size: Paramotor Frame: Blackhawk 172 with

Incident Details

October 26, 2010 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

While cruising about 1000 AGL and 1 mile from my launch field I heard a “pop” behind my head. I did not notice any unusual vibrations or sounds so I casually made my way back to the landing field. There were many landing options as I plan my flights that way, and if the situation deteriorated to the point of needing to shut down the engine it would have only been an inconvenience. After landing I immediately noticed an area of damage to the leading edge of the prop. Back home while doing a post-flight inspection I found that the hose clamp screw had come loose and gone through the prop. The damaged area was about the size of a quarter. I had checked them on preflight (I had even had painted indicator marks to make it easy to check), but it still worked itself loose in 20 minutes of flight. As a fix I tried installing safety wire on my new hose clamps. Refer to the pics of the prop damage and the safety wire installation. I suppose the take away from this is make sure to leave yourself some landing options. If I had not, and the situation worsened, I would have gone down in the trees. Also, keeping landing options and plenty of altitude to sort things out helps reduce the tendency to panic. Stay safe up there!

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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