- Date
- December 21, 2024, 18:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Myakka City, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- UNREGBuckeye Dream Machine
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 199501
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The non-certificated pilot’s improper decision to operate the powered parachute in close proximity to a fence, which resulted in a collision with the fence during takeoff. Also causal was the pilot’s decision to operate the powered parachute without having received any formal training.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The non-certificated pilot of the unregistered powered parachute had no formal flight training, but had watched internet videos showing how it was operated. On the day of the accident, he departed from a baseball field and completed an uneventful first solo flight. His second flight was the accident flight. The pilot stated that as he started the takeoff roll for the flight, he realized that he was too close to a fence that surrounded the baseball field but decided to continue the takeoff anyway. As the takeoff continued, the pilot described that there was a gust of wind, and the powered parachute subsequently contacted the fence, seriously injuring the pilot. The powered parachute was not damaged. The pilot did not report that there were any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the powered parachute that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- UNREG
- Reported as
- Buckeye Dream Machine
- Category
- Powered parachute
- Serial number
- unknown
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 50 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- None
- Equipment
- None
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- Serious
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 0 total · 0 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- VNC, 23 nm away
- METAR
- KVNC 212315Z AUTO 31009KT 10SM CLR A3015 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 3, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 MB in all.