A matter of safety ( Urgent )

[Leprachaun]

Hi Folks after the fatal accident at Groblersdal last weekend I as safty officer of MISASA have requested CAA to "ground " all Airborne Edge aircraft till we have clarity re the wing failure on Kevin Manions Airborne XT.
CAA and the manufacturer are busy trying to find a solution. I have recovered the wreckage and "re assembled " the wing on my premises and are waiting for Jenya and a visit from CAA to determine the way forward .
I would suggest you have a competent AP inspect your wing/ leading edges to determine if it shows any signs of fatique / stress before you decide to fly again. CAA comitted to contact the 9 remaining owners of Airborne products re the above issues .
Should you know somone who owns one please contact them with urgency to inspect the plane before further flights are undertaken
CAA - Andre Swanepoel can be contacted re this matter . Its a life thretening situation , and I feel it should be treated as such , Leprachaun.

[Cloud Warrior]

ATSB report into a Airborne trike crash under similar circumstances (as well as a couple of other) is available here:

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv ... 01173.aspx

From website www.recreationalflying.com.au

[Griffin]

In all three accidents, the failure of the main wingspar had occurred near the wingtip. Qualitative analysis of the structural design and loading of the part during this safety investigation and examination of the coronial findings from the Hexham accident, revealed that the main wingspar had failed under negative ‘G’ loading. Such loading was likely if the aircraft entered or encountered flight conditions outside the manufacturer’s specified flight envelope. No other material or mechanical defects were identified as being a contributing factor to these accidents.

Was it also the main wingspar that failed?? In these cases it was (thought to be??) due to exceeding negative Gs. Any comments?

[John Young]

Any comments?

Codswallop

Regards
John ex-CIB

[Andre]

The wings apparently failed in negative G' situations but I believe Kevin was in straight and level with no turbulance when his wing failed

I fly a Steak wing on my Airborne.
Who is qualified to do the inspection for me ? I tried to check but can't see any defects or problems.

[Big-D]

Hi Leprachaun

Thank you for your effort with regard to the investigation, much appreciated.

As you know I fly an Airborne, and will be in touch with you - And should CAA decide to ground these aircraft untill we can sort out the safety hazzard, so be it

Leprachaun, perhaps ANdre and I can get you to come inspect our wings? Needless to say we will compensate you

Regards

David Conroy
0825033eight93

[Big-D]

I have contacted Sean Bailey who also flies an Airborne and made him aware of the situation, he said CAA phoned yesterday and asked him not to fly, I have not had a call from them yet, but needless to say I won't fly


That's 3 out of the 9

Andre
David
Sean

Who else?


D

[LarryMcG]

Hi Guys

I didnt know Kevin, and feel deeply for all concerned.

But, a gentle question. Were there any eye witnesses to the accident? We dont seem to have heard from anybody?

I heard an ugly rumour yesterday, that this might have been due to pilot error on input?

Surely it must be very rare and unusual for any wing to break in straight and level flight?

Lm

[kloot piloot]

Typically you will have to inspect one of 2 places.
You could do it with the sail on, but preferably with the wing de-tensioned.

The 1st is where the outer leading edge sleeves into the inner leading edge. Where the outer- and inner leading edge sleeve together is your first stress point and compression / stressmarks might be found around the inner L/E at that point.
The 2nd critical point is where the spreader bar / wing spar is bolted onto the bracket connecting it to the leading edge. Check for wear around the bolt hole (of the spar) on the bracket, or de-formed bracket.

If in doubt, strip the sail for a better view.

[DieselFan]

The wings apparently failed in negative G' situations but I believe Kevin was in straight and level with no turbulance when his wing failed

The time of the flight was not early morning and I'm not sure which witnesses viewed the straight and level flight.

[lamercyfly]

Hi Folk.

Thank you Alex for your contribution to microlighting in SA. You really have gone the 'extra mile' during your time with Misasa, and I know that you will always continue to do so....

My comments...

I fail to grasp how a flex wing can be diagnosed as breaking, during flight, in a negative G load?!

Even when lying flat on the ground, (zero G') the tension on the leading edge is backwards. During flight, this rearward tension is added to with an upward tension.

It would really, really be very difficult for a negative G situation to be so extreme/severe as to break the leading edge outer section. I'm talking the most severe thunderstorm activity nearby, outrageous mountain rotor turbulence, and subsequent really bad secondary flight path of the remaining aircraft. eg., tuck and tumble, inverted barrel roll from a radical momentary side slip which would 'flip' you over etc., etc.,. You don't just get one wing tip entering such severe neg g's while the rest of you is on a 'Sunday drive'......

Furthermore, the sail area outside of the braced section (root of the wing up to the section where the flying cables join the leading edge) is nominal, and does not take much load, either positive or negative during flight.

In any case, these leading edges are supposed to be DESIGNED TO FLEX....

If, and only if, a pilot experienced negative g during flight in a weight-shift flexwing, then all that would happen is that the leading edge would start returning to its normal position (as in when the wing lies flat on the ground), and then as the negative loading comes in, the fabric would billow in the wrong direction, causing the trailing edge of the fabric to once again pull the leading edge tips back(as in normal flight) but now with the vertical flex just opposite to normal flight!

So, what's the big deal with negative loading during straight and level flight. Besides the jerk as the landing cables swop load with the flying wires and then the jerk as they swop the load again(assuming there is play in the cables) and the brown spot in your pants, it is not a big deal. Chances are your battens (especially reflex), will show the deformation if it was severe enough, and the outer battons may(only may, as the outer sail can move around the leading edge.)

I think all this talk about Neg G causing the outer leading edge to break is just a common case of 'bulls**t trying to baffle brains'!

I would like to see the components X-rayed for molecular analysis. See if there was a 'stress-riser' point, possibly from a hard knock during trailering or hangering etc., leading to this kind of failure...or if it is just a case of plain stress failure....

Please folk, just a physical 'eye' inspection does not cut it here... I would suggest either renewing the outer leading edge sections depending on the hours your wing has relative to the hours of the known failed wings, or a the very least and X-Ray..... or just fit a parachute dudes!

There was an aeros wing failure (it is on their web page) over in the states. Also and outer section broke off. They concluded bird strike....

Tragic, darn tragic..

Please note that I offer my thoughts divorced from the tragedy of this accident.

Will call Jenya and ask him what he makes of this.

Regards.

[Leprachaun]

Hi Folks , I fetched Jenja and CAA inspectors today to clarify some of the issues on the wing . We had an interresting meeting , I can assure you all out there Jenja knows his stuff . We inspected the wing with a few maybe s , Maybe this and maybe that .
The missing part is not an issue anymore as CAA saw it inside the wing at the crash site - somone somewhere has a keepsake , May your behind itch and finger turn into fish hooks Some of the tears on the wing was caused by CAA trying to look inside the wing ?????
Well we have come to a finding , the wing strut broke on impact as the break was forward with lots of compression , so the mystery deepens and we have a few other causes ?? why was the control bar broken , and why did the control bar break withsuch a force that it bent the profile tube and left scars on it ...
Well were getting there and will keep you all posted .
A sample of the leading edge material was taken for analysis as it seems suspect - .
Leprachan

[cobra]

Hi Guys

I didnt know Kevin, and feel deeply for all concerned.

But, a gentle question. Were there any eye witnesses to the accident? We dont seem to have heard from anybody?

I heard an ugly rumour yesterday, that this might have been due to pilot error on input?

Surely it must be very rare and unusual for any wing to break in straight and level flight?

Lm

The wings apparently failed in negative G' situations but I believe Kevin was in straight and level with no turbulance when his wing failed

The time of the flight was not early morning and I'm note sure which witnesses viewed the straight and level flight.

Hi Larry

I was on the fly-away as you my have gathered on the Groblersdal topic. Wrt to your post, there was an eye witness of which I would gladly give you details. First of all that magic word "rumors", to make a statements which insinuates that there was something “ugly” is a cause for speculation, let’s leave such rumors until Alex, Airborne & CAA did their jobs.

To change this topic in a speculation marathon is inappropriate and I would dearly not want to see this happen as I would want to follow this topic with interest and facts that will assist us to understand, why ?

If there is a rumor I`m sure if it is based on facts maybe, just maybe this information could solve the big

Regard, Sias

[Bugwar]

or just fit a parachute dudes!

This whole tragic accident made me think about fitting a parachute.

Does anyone know about (or had first hand experience of) an incident where a parachute actually saved the lives of the pilot and pax?

[Arnulf]

Read this:
Mc Guyver wrote

Ballistic chutes are they necessary??
Yes , most definitely.
I have always taught if you screw up , tell as many people about it so that someone might learn from the mistake. So here I am putting my pride in my pocket and telling all.
I had someone coming up to the airfield for a flight last Monday morning.
The weather was not good and very cloudy.
I called them to cancel as the weather conditions were not good enough for flying.
They had already left home and said they would come up to the airfield in any case.
From the ground above the airfield I assessed the conditions as good enough to do a circuit or two and to see how the surrounding area looked.
Soon after take off I realised I was in trouble with a cloud that had come in low. I decided to do a right hand turn out and land back on the airfield.
Problems!!! I ended up in heavier cloud. What were my options?
All I could do now was give full power and hopefully climb through the cloud and divert to a nearby airfield.
I entered our airfield on the GPS so as to have an arrow to follow to keep straight. I did not take my eyes off the instruments which were a digital VSI and altimeter as well as my GPS. I was climbing out at between 280 and 350 fpm with my control bar slightly back from neutral which is the position that I always fly in.
I climbed to approx. 1000ft agl and then saw that the instruments showed I was no longer climbing but was in rapid descent. I kept watching my VSI and it showed a drop of 400fpm then 600fpm and then 800fpm. I was at full RPM, my control bar was straight with slight back pressure and nothing was changing. I took my hands off the control bar to see if the wing was stable and the bar remained basically in the identical position. I had no sensation at all of the plane descending. Knowing that the highest point in the area was at approx 1 ft I watched the altimeter descending with my hand on the cable for deploying the chute. I was still at full rpm. At approx 200 ft above what I thought was the highest point, I deployed the chute and came down safely to mother earth.
I am not sure as to when I broke through the cloud, as I had my eyes glued to the instrumentation readying for activating the chute.
On deploying the chute the explosive went off with a much louder bang than I anticipated. I was expecting a massive jolt when the parachute opened and was surprised as to how gentle the tug was when it opened.
I failed to switch off my motor and the steel cable of the chute got hooked on the gearbox.
This brought me down in a very much nose down attitude. I used my left hand to brace myself on the front profile tube with my right hand holding the control bar.I kept saying to myself keep conscious.
It seemed like ages before I hit the ground.
The front wheel hit and then the nose of the wing and then the trike came down sideways on the right rear wheel. With the shock of hitting the ground and all the cables and the wing coming down on me I think I just remained still for a few seconds! The plane was on its side with me trapped underneath it. I then released my seatbelt, took off my helmet (I don't know why I did not leave it on and get away from the plane!) I climbed out and was lucky enough to get out completely unhurt.
I had a slight surface bruise on my forehead which was probably caused by the helmet moving on impact.
I was lucky in that I landed in a field with trees all around me. I must have been approx 500ft agl on deploying the chute.
I am extremely angry with myself for screwing up the way I did and hope that others will learn from my very bad error of judgement in not realising that the weather conditions were changing rapidly!
On looking back, if it was not good enough to take up a passenger, why was it good enough for me to fly?
I have tried working out why I had no sensation of descending and have come up with the conclusion that when in a thermal you feel the knock as you go in and then your VSI shows the climb, but you do not actually feel it. With the downdraught I assume that it must have been the same.

I have seen written, that a Ballistic chute is not neccesary and is basically a waste of time and is "redundant exuipment".
I also used to think that, but when Alan Honeyborne lost his life I decided to equip my trike with a chute. Thank goodness I made that decision.
Spending a few weeks in hospital severely injured, or even losing my life, would cost more than the chute!!
The Recovery system that I used was the GRS.
People will say that a chute is only neccesary for structual failure or mid air collision as one should not be caught in bad weather.
Errors of judgement do happen and my pride is very hurt and I am angry that this happened to me.
The damage to the trike was minimal with the front fork,the right rear stub axle, the radiator, wing keel and a few curved battens needing replacement.
I have always said that accidents are 99% pilot error but generally pilot stupidity.
I will let you decide on this last remark!
To GRS recovery systems I thank you

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