- Date
- May 3, 2016, 19:00 local (May 4, 2016, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Arlington, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N528PGAirborne Redback
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) start-up: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 12, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Lead agency
- Other
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 93104
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 pilot's failure to adequately secure the aircraft while manually starting the engine from outside the cockpit, which resulted in the unmanned aircraft becoming airborne and colliding with a hangar roof.
Findings · 4
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
According to the pilot of the weight shift controlled trike, he had spent several hours trying to start the trike on the previous day without success. He recalled that on the morning of the accident, with the ignition off, he sprayed ether into each of the carburetors and pulled several times on the engine's starter cord. He reported that he then turned on the ignition, pulled the starter cord once, the engine started and the trike accelerated forward. He recalled that the trike rolled over the chalks that were in front of the wheels, drug him for about 100 feet before he released the cord, and the trike became airborne. The trike was airborne for several seconds before impacting the rooftop of a hangar and sustaining substantial damage to the wing keel and the control bar. The pilot reported that there were not any pre-accident mechanical failures or anomalies with the trike that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident. The pilot reported that in hind sight, he should have placed the hand throttle to idle before pulling the cord.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot of the weight shift controlled trike, he had spent several hours trying to start the trike on the previous day without success. He recalled that on the morning of the accident, with the ignition off, he sprayed ether into each of the carburetors and pulled several times on the engine's starter cord. He reported that he then turned on the ignition, pulled the starter cord once, the engine started and the trike accelerated forward. He recalled that the trike rolled over the chalks that were in front of the wheels, drug him for about 100 feet before he released the cord, and the trike became airborne. The trike was airborne for several seconds before impacting the rooftop of a hangar and sustaining substantial damage to the wing keel and the control bar. The pilot reported that there were not any pre-accident mechanical failures or anomalies with the trike that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident. The pilot reported that in hind sight, he should have placed the hand throttle to idle before pulling the cord.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N528PG
- Reported as
- Airborne Redback (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Weight-shift
- Serial number
- 503-719
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 3,166
- Engine
- Rotax 503 DCDI, 50 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Departed
- AWO · Arlington, WA
- Destination
- AWO · Arlington, WA
- Airport
- AWO · Arlington Muni
- Equipment
- Airframe parachute
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Private, Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 3, 2015
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 325 total · 175 in this make and model · 66 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- KAWO
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 1, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 MB in all.