Extra EA300, D-EZOZ, 4 August 2005

Extra EA300, D-EZOZ

Summary:

The pilot was returning after a formation flight that involved nine aircraft flying over Stonehenge. D-EZOZ was number four in the formation and was briefed to land fourth. During the landing the point the right main landing gear leg broke and began to dig into the grass. This caused the aircraft to yaw to the right and slide to a rapid stop. During the slide the left main landing gear was also damaged. All of the propeller blades had suffered impact damage and the engine was shock-loaded. The repair agency stated that the maintenance schedule requires routine visual inspection of the landing gear, but no routine load testing. Thus, there was the possibility of a pre-existing weakness in the main landing gear.

This overview has been truncated. Please refer to the official documents below for the complete canonical report.

44 AAIB Bulletin: 12/2005 D-EZOZ EW/G2005/08/03 ACCIDENT Aircraft Type and Registration: Extra EA300, D-EZOZ No & Type of Engines: 1 AEIO 540 piston engine Category: 1.3 Year of Manufacture: 1996 Date & Time (UTC): 4 August 2005 at 1035 hrs Location: Wing Farm near Warminster, Wiltshire Type of Flight: Private Persons on Board: Crew - 1 Passengers - 1 Injuries: Crew - None Passengers - None Nature of Damage: Main landing gear, fuselage and propeller Commander’s Licence: Dutch Private Pilot’s Licence Commander’s Age: 51 years Commander’s Flying Experience: 2,000 hours (of which 1,000+ were on type) Last 90 days - 50 hours Last 28 days - 20 hours Information Source: Aircraft Accident Report Form submitted by the pilot and further enquiries by the AAIB The pilot was returning to Wing Farm after a formation ﬂight that involved nine aircraft ﬂying over Stonehenge, Wiltshire. Wing Farm is a grass strip, 500 m in length. Runway 27 was in use and the grass was dry. An aftercast obtained by from the Meteorological Ofﬁce states that the surface wind would have been approximately 290°/7 to 11 kt. The pilot reports that the surface wind was 340°/6 kt. D-EZOZ was number four in the formation and was briefed to land fourth. The ﬁrst three aircraft landed and waited at the end of the runway, as they had to back track the runway to get to the parking area by the threshold of Runway 27. The pilot reports that during the ﬁnal approach he was side-slipping the aircraft, as he usually did, to slow down and to increase his forward visibility. Having removed the side slip and ﬂared, he noticed that he landed with the tail wheel before the main landing gear, which touched down ﬁrmly. At this point the right main landing gear leg broke and began to dig into the grass. This caused the aircraft to yaw to the right and slide to a rapid stop. During the slide the left main landing gear was also damaged. The pilot informed other aircraft, which were on approach, about the accident. Having checked that his passenger was not injured he isolated the aircraft electrically and 45 AAIB Bulletin: 12/2005 D-EZOZ EW/G2005/08/03 vacated it with his passenger. Having ensured there was no risk of ﬁre, the aircraft was moved off the runway to allow the rest of the formation of aircraft to land. An assessment of the damage, by the repair agency, found that the right main landing gear had broken off, there was damage to the left main landing gear and minor damage to the underside of the wings and fuselage. All of the propeller blades had suffered impact damage and the engine was shock-loaded. The agency also stated that the maintenance schedule requires routine visual inspection of the landing gear, but no routine load testing. Thus, there was the possibility of a pre-existing weakness in the main landing gear.

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