Accredited representative (State of Design) to the South African Civil Aviation Authority investigation of an engine failure involving Jabiru UL registered ZU-FIC, near Sizela, South Africa, on 12 March 2017

On March 12, 2017, at about 1015 UTC a pilot and a passenger departed on a private flight from Margate Airport (FAMG) to Light flight Airfield, Cato Ridge, South Africa in a Jabiru UL registered ZU-FIC. The pilot reported that twelve minutes into the flight the aircraft started to lose airspeed. The pilot then set the power to idle and observed the propeller detach from the engine. During the subsequent forced landing in a cane field, the right main wheel broke off. The aircraft then veered to the right and impacted an embankment at which point the nose gear collapsed. The pilot and passenger both sustained minor injuries while the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) commenced an investigation.

As Australia is the State of Design of the aircraft, the ATSB requested to be appointed as an accredited representative to the SACAA investigation in accordance with clause 5.18 of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation. An ATSB investigator was appointed as accredited representative to the SACAA. To facilitate support to the SACAA investigation, the ATSB also initiated an investigation under the Australian Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003.

The CAA have released the final report into this investigation. Any enquires relating to the investigation should be directed to the SACAA at: http://www.caa.co.za/Pages/Default.aspx