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Ikarus C42 FB UK, G-ILRS, 5 October 2013

Air Accidents (AAIB)

Published on 10 December 2014, 23:00

Summary
aircraft category
sport-aviation-and-balloons
aircraft type
Ikarus C42 FB UK
bulk published
1
date of occurrence
2013-10-05
location
East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian
registration
G-ILRS
report type
correspondence-investigation

Report Overview

Ikarus C42 FB UK, G-ILRS

Summary:

G-ILRS was fitted with a wing-fold mechanism that allowed the wings to be folded back and stowed parallel to the fuselage.

On the day of the accident the pilot reported that he removed the aircraft from its trailer and unfolded the wings with the assistance of another pilot. The pre-flight and start-up checks were uneventful but, approximately 50 feet into the takeoff run, the right wing started to rotate upwards about the fuselage. The pilot immediately abandoned the takeoff.

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

Official Documents

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Extracted text from the first few pages of the official documents.

Ikarus C42 FB UK, G-ILRS 12-13.pdf

56� Crown copyright 2013 AAIB Bulletin: 12/2013 G-ILRS EW/G2013/10/02 INCIDENT Aircraft Type and Registration: Ikarus C42 FB UK, G-ILRS No & Type of Engines: 1 Rotax 912 ULS piston engine Year of Manufacture: 2002 Date & Time (UTC): 5 October 2013 at 1115 hrs Location: East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian Type of Flight: Private Persons on Board: Crew - 1 Passengers - 1 Injuries: Crew - None Passengers - None Nature of Damage: Damage to left and right wing, and right flap Commander’s Licence: National Private Pilot’s Licence Commander’s Age: 61 years Commander’s Flying Experience: 65 hours (of which 25 were on type) Last 90 days - 8 hours Last 28 days - 0.5 hour Information Source: Aircraft Accident Report Form submitted by the pilot G-ILRS was fitted with a wing-fold mechanism that allowed the wings to be folded back and stowed parallel to the fuselage. On the day of the accident the pilot reported that he removed the aircraft from its trailer and unfolded the wings with the assistance of another pilot. The pre‑flight and start-up checks were uneventful but, approximately 50 feet into the takeoff run, the right wing started to rotate upwards about the fuselage. The pilot immediately abandoned the takeoff. The cause of the wing rotating upwards was the incorrect fitting of the wing strut lower attachment bolt (Figure 1), which had only passed through the fuselage mounting bracket and not through the strut. The pilot had owned the aircraft for six months during which he had unfolded the wings on approximately six occasions. He said that he rigged the aircraft in Figure 1 Ikarus C42 Wing bolts Wing strut lower attachment point 57� Crown copyright 2013 AAIB Bulletin: 12/2013 G-ILRS EW/G2013/10/02 accordance with the C42 Owners Manual. His normal procedure was to ask an assistant to hold the wingtip while he bolted the lower end of the wing strut to the fuselage. He would then check that the wing was correctly attached by lifting the wingtip. On this occasion he believed that the pilot assisting him had carried out this last check and, therefore, did not feel that it was necessary for him to repeat the check.

Change History

  • First published.

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G-ILRS Ikarus C42 FB UK East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian