Summary
On 5 August 2009, an Airborne Edge Trike microlight aircraft was being operated as sports aviation from the owners private airstrip. The aircraft departed from the private airstrip for a planned flight approximately 10 nm to the north. When the aircraft did not arrive at its destination, a search was initiated by friends. The aircraft wreckage was located approximately 0.65 nm from the threshold of the airstrip. The pilot, who was the sole occupant of the aircraft, was fatally injured.
In assisting the Victorian Police in their investigation of this accident, Recreational Aviation Australia Inc (RA-Aus) requested assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in the recovery of information from a portable Global Positioning System (GPS) unit recovered from the accident site. To protect the information supplied by RA-Aus to the ATSB and investigative work undertaken to assist RA-Aus, the ATSB initiated an investigation under the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (TSI Act).
The ATSB completed its recovery of data from the Garmin® GPS V portable GPS receiver (serial No: 7304194) and provided the data to RA-Aus in the interests of transport safety, under the provisions of section 61 of the TSI Act.
Contact details for RA-Aus are at website: www.raa.asn.au
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Released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003.
Occurrence summary
| Investigation number | AE-2009-057 |
|---|---|
| Occurrence date | 05/08/2009 |
| Location | Near Hopetoun Aerodrome |
| State | Victoria |
| Report release date | 15/12/2009 |
| Report status | Final |
| Investigation level | Systemic |
| Investigation type | Occurrence Investigation |
| Investigation status | Completed |
| Mode of transport | Aviation |
| Aviation occurrence category | Collision with terrain |
| Occurrence class | Accident |
| Highest injury level | Fatal |
Aircraft details
| Model | Airborne, Edge Trike |
|---|---|
| Operation type | Sports Aviation |