Loss of control

The pilot had built the single seat aircraft himself and had previously only flown it on one occasion. After completing the first circuit, the aircraft was taxied back to the threshold and the second take-off commenced. Just after lift-off the aircraft was observed to pitch nose up. The right wing dropped and the aircraft turned to the right before impacting the ground. When the aircraft tail came up during the take-off roll, the pilot became concerned that it was too high and that the propeller might strike the ground. In attempting to avoid this, excessive back pressure was applied to the control column. The aircraft became airborne prematurely and then stalled.

The aircraft was being flown between 500 and 1000 feet agl at 60 knots with 20 degree of flap. A mob of sheep was spotted and the pilot turned right to keep them in sight. The stall warning sounded and the pilot noticed a lack of elevator control but did not associate this with a stall. Descent continued while the pilot was engrossed in the elevator problem until the aircraft struck trees in its path. A major portion of the right wing was severed and the aircraft came to rest on its side.

The pilot was approaching to land at the conclusion of his second flight on the type. The approach was normal, however the glider floated the length of the strip at a height of about 25 feet. At the end of the strip a turn was commenced but after completing about 90 degrees an incipient spin developed and the glider struck the ground. The pilot subsequently advised that he had activated the cruise flap lever instead of the air brake. The two levers are located side by side in the cockpit. It is likely that the pilot was suffering a degree of heat stress. He had been in the cockpit, exposed to the sun for two and a half hours and he had not eaten since breakfast. He reported that during the final stages of flight his reactions were affected by fatigue and the heat.

The helicopter was being operated in clear conditions, with a five knot South - Westerly breeze, and an outside air temperature of minus six degrees Celsius. After landing on a snow covered ridge, the passengers advised that they would require only a short period of time to complete their work. While waiting, the pilot maintained sufficient power to prevent the helicopter sinking deeper into the snow than approximately 45 centimetres. On DEPARTURE, the helicopter lifted normally clear of the snow into the hover, then turned approximately 45 degrees to the left, to follow the ridge line instead of flying direct across the valley to the next destination. During take-off, slight sink was encountered. This was controlled by an increase in collective pitch, but almost immediately further sink occurred. The pilot again increased collective pitch and forward cyclic control expecting to accelerate through the sink. The skids contacted the snow surface, with the right hand skid digging in deeper, causing the helicopter to roll to the right. In response, left cyclic control and full collective were applied , but the helicopter continued rolling to the right, allowing the main rotor blades to contact the snow, which caused the helicopter to overturn. The prevailing conditions would appear to preclude the possibility of power failure caused by snow ingested through the engine air intake. A full mechanical inspection was made of the helicopter and its engine, but no fault was detected. It is possible the aircraft was over-rotated, allowing the skid toes to contact the snow. The cause of this accident was not determined.

On final for runway 16 the pilot noticed another aircraft on departure using runway 34. The climbing aircraft turned right immediately to allow sufficient clearance for the landing aircraft to continue its approach, however, the pilot elected to go around instead. During the go around the aircraft mushed onto the flight strip, broke off its nosewheel, nosed over and came to rest inverted 30 metres from the initial impact point. The aircraft entered the circuit without making inbound or circuit entry calls and because the wind was still directly across the strip, the pilot decided to use runway 16 which he had used for the take-off. Two aircraft already in the circuit, but using runway 34, were not sighted until a head-on condition had developed with one of them. During the go around, with the speed at about 65 knots, the flaps were fully retracted. Prior to this departure a dual check was completed as the pilot had not flown the Cessna 172 for 8 years.

The pilot intended to conduct practice circuits and landings in preparation for competitions later in the day. On the first landing the aircraft bounced slightly and then veered into soft earth at the edge of the partially constructed strip. The nose gear leg collapsed and the left wing tip struck rocks adjacent to the strip. The pilot was inexperienced and the landing was conducted in crosswind conditions onto a 15 metre wide section of strip which was closely surrounded by areas of soft ground, rocks and earthworks. The organisers of the flying competition had permitted operations to take place on a sub-standard strip.

Following an hour of dual assessment flying, the instructor authorised the student to perform his first solo flight. As soon as the helicopter was lifted into the hover, it began to move to the right. The right skid contacted the ground, the aircraft rolled to the right and came to rest on its side. Although he had been briefed on the different handling characteristics of the aircraft when only one person was on board, the student had evidently not anticipated the degree of change which would occur.

The two parachutists were preparing for a jump in which one pulled the other from the aircraft. During the final stages of the preparation, the reserve parachute of the front jumper prematurely deployed. Both persons were ejected from the aircraft, and the leading jumper struck the tailplane. A portion of the horizontal stabiliser was torn off and the aircraft pitched down beyond the vertical. The pilot was unable to regain any control, and, with some difficulty, abandoned the aircraft. He deployed his parachute at about 500 feet above the ground, and landed safely. The parachutist who had struck the tailplane was initially rendered unconscious, and had suffered a broken right arm. She recovered sufficiently to deploy her main parachute and control her descent when close to the ground. The aircraft was destroyed when it impacted the ground in a steep nose-down attitude at high speed. The inadvertent deployment of the reserve parachute was probably caused by the body movements of the parachutist as she moved to her jump position outside the aircraft. The most likely explanation for the inadvertent deployment was that either the securing pins were not engaged correctly or that the rip chord was too short. The rip chord was not recovered. _

The helicopter took off and entered a hover in ground effect before a climbing turn to the left was initiated from approximately 10 feet above ground level(agl). Immediately the turn was commenced the helicopter started to lose mainrotor rpm. The terrain drops away from the heli-pad and the helicopter was now 35 to 40 feet agl. The pilot attempted to regain rotor rpm by lowering the collective and increasing throttle, however, RPM was not regained and the helicopter continued in the descent until ground impact. The pilot was interviewed by an Examiner of Airmen who was of the opinion that the symptoms described by the pilot indicated that the mainrotor was overpitched during the climbing turn.

During the landing roll the aircraft started to veer right. The pilot under check applied sufficient rudder to correct the swing but then applied excessive left rudder and considerable power and the aircraft swung sharply left. The left wing and elevator tips contacted the ground whilst the instructor was regaining control. The pilot under check had not flown a tail wheel aircraft for five months.