Merritt, BC accident

[rigpiggy]

A single crashed beside runway last night, the firefighters cut him out. Waiting on other news

[DH82EH]

Hoping for the best.
Positive thoughts

[rigpiggy]

https://q101.ca/news

Green/white single

[PilotDAR]

Yeah, I've flown that type, and have an idea about its cockpit structure - so I choose not to fly in them any more. To each their own, but it would not have been a lot of work to cut him out with hydraulic rescue tools. I hope our fellow pilot makes a good recovery....

[anofly]

zenith?

[rigpiggy]

https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/ ... hSimp.aspx

C-IHAN zenith 701

with pics
https://q101.ca/news/14547-report-accid ... tt-airport

wtf was he doing flying at night? Or was he just not noticed until after midnight

[rigpiggy]

[AirFrame]

Maybe the pilot was night rated? But it seems more likely that the flight was conducted late in the day on Sunday, and only found after midnight Monday AM. That's a long time to be out in the cold with serious injuries...

[J31]

This is an Advanced Ultralight which is not legal to fly at night. Sunset in Merritt was about 545 pm and there are no runway lights.

[pelmet]

Shortly after takeoff from Runway 21 late in the afternoon, a Zenair CH 701 STOL advanced
ultralight, C-IHAN, impacted the left side runway edge in a nose down attitude. The pilot was
trapped in the cockpit due to crushing damage incurred to the forward cabin area. The ELT signal
was not triggered and the time of the occurrence with reduced daylight, precluded a timely
emergency response. The pilot was reported missing and the RCMP initiated a search of the
Merritt area establishments, and 'pinged' the pilot's cell phone for location. The aircraft was
eventually spotted on the runway edge at the airport in the early morning hours with its tail in the
air. The pilot was alive, conscious, but suffering from the cold, and serious injuries. He was
extricated from the wreckage and taken to hospital. This was the first flight in the aircraft after the
pilot purchased it. The aircraft had been delivered and reassembled the previous day.

[PilotDAR]

This was the first flight in the aircraft after the pilot purchased it. The aircraft had been delivered and reassembled the previous day.

That information would lead me to inquire more about the pilot's currency (particularly on lower inertia/higher drag types), and the possibility that something was missed during reassembly. Did a competent person dual inspect the reassembly (flight and engine controls and systems - fuel system)? Maybe it quit shortly airborne, and did not glide as expected....

[Capt. Underpants]

I'm told this is a typical accident with this aircraft. It bites hard when it bites and even experienced pilots have been caught out.

[PilotDAR]

It bites hard when it bites

That was my perception when I test flew the prototype a few times back in the early '80's. I hope that there were product improvements of the later models, but I did not follow the type, as my first flying in #1 put me off enough that I no longer wanted to have one.

That said, some of the unfavourable characteristics were not unique to the 701, many high drag, light weight airplanes will bite if the power suddenly stops. The added factor with the 701 is that is is presented as being STOL. It is, as long as the power is there. If the power stops, it nearly stops in the sky, unless the nose is put down promptly.

Though I cannot say about this accident, there are pilots who just have not embraced the reality that there is a combination of altitude and airspeed, below which a gliding landing will not be possible (same as a height velocity curve for any helicopter). "STOL" plane pilots seem to gravitate to this regime of low altitude steep climb outs, 'cause the plane will - but don't realize the immense danger in the case of engine failure during a steep climb at low altitude.

As is the case with many things with airplanes, the fact that is can, does not always mean that is should....