Incident at Delta Air Park

[bmc]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e20185112/

[7ECA]

Heard it through the rumour mill that it was a Tiger Moth.

No idea what happened, any damage, etc, though.

[AirFrame]

Didn't witness it but my father did. The CMFT tiger moth was taking off to return to Langley. It was about 100 feet in the air, when the wings rocked a few times and then it rolled over and nosed straight into the hedgerow on the north side of the runway. Looks like a few of the small trees there broke the impact quite well, as the occupants got out with only scrapes and broken bones. Lower wings look bent back slightly with leading edge damage, plus the expected propellor damage and possible engine/mount/forward fuselage damage (couldn't see from the video).

The Global news site has a video shot Sunday of the recovery, with much better pictures. Interesting that someone took the time to carefully cover the registration (C-GMFT) and the "Canadian Museum of Flight" text on the side of the fuselage with painter's tape.

[trey kule]

Interesting that someone took the time to carefully cover the registration (C-GMFT) and the "Canadian Museum of Flight" text on the side of the fuselage with painter's tape.

Why is that interesting?

[North Shore]

when the wings rocked a few times and then it rolled over and nosed straight into the hedgerow

Departure stall?

[boeingboy]

Departure stall?

Looks like it. One of the guys a work took photos of the takeoff. He lifted off, bounced, drifted right in what he said was a crosswind with nose up attitude and used ailerons to counter - as it rolled to the left, it then snapped to the right. impacting approx. 90 degree roll to the right and slightly nose down. The right wings dug in bending them back, it then cartwheeled onto its nose in some bushes. He was maybe 50ft.

[CFR]

Departure stall?

Looks like it. One of the guys a work took photos of the takeoff. He lifted off, bounced, drifted right in what he said was a crosswind with nose up attitude and used ailerons to counter - as it rolled to the left, it then snapped to the right. impacting approx. 90 degree roll to the right and slightly nose down. The right wings dug in bending them back, it then cartwheeled onto its nose in some bushes. He was maybe 50ft.

Vintage airplane ... newbie pilot?

[Alwaysflygirl]

The amount of fictional drama happening in these posts is Oscar worthy ....do you guys even fly airplanes?

[AirFrame]

Interesting that someone took the time to carefully cover the registration (C-GMFT) and the "Canadian Museum of Flight" text on the side of the fuselage with painter's tape.

Why is that interesting?

Because every news story reported that it was a Canadian Museum of Flight aircraft, and the aircraft can be seen with the registration clearly visible on the CMFT website. It's just odd what people chose to cover, and i'm curious what they would hope to gain from it.

Vintage airplane ... newbie pilot?

Not if the report i've heard is true. It was an older pilot, commercial (airline) I believe, with many hours in both that Tiger Moth and the museum Harvard. I won't mention any names as i'm not 100% sure.

I've heard since that there were gusty crosswinds that day, and at the time of the incident may have been trending slightly towards a tailwind for this departure. That's hard to say for sure though, as gusty crosswinds at Delta can send the windsock swinging back and forth 5 degrees either side of a direct crosswind.

[Chuck Finley]

Uh oh....... The mighty variable tailwinds are back!!!

[Gene Hasenfus]

Were "average pilot skills" required?

Remember, when a wing drops, counter it
will full opposite aileron to pick the wing up,
and full stick back, to make the airplane
climb. Rest your feet comfortably on the
rudder pedal footrests. I'm sure he flew the
correct airspeed.

It's a good thing old airplanes don't exhibit
any adverse yaw, especially at slower speeds.

[cgzro]

My experience with stalls / checkouts in the Tiger/Finch/Chipmunk is that many highly experienced pilots use ailerons to pick up the wing in straight ahead stalls and almost all do in a power on turning stall.

Instructors should teach the falling leaf. Pin the control column full aft neutral aileron and let student only use rudder. Wont take long to learn they get hundreds of stalls in a few minutes.

Glad nobody was seriously hurt.

[pelmet]

A14P0138: The DeHavilland DH82-C Tiger Moth, C-GMFT, operated by the Langley Museum for demonstration, was at the Delta Heritage Air Park fly-in event. During takeoff to return to Langley regional airport, with a pilot and a passenger, it crashed in small trees and a ditch next to the grass runway (RWY25). The wind sock indicated a crosswind >15 knots during the takeoff roll. As the aircraft approached the junction of a taxiway, it proceeded into an unsheltered area and was observed drifting to the right. It briefly bounced before lifting off. The right wing initially picked up before the aircraft pitched up and rotated clockwise toward the runway edge line, where it fell nose down into the bordering trees and ditch. All four wings of this tandem seating biplane straddled the ditch with the nose pointed down. The pilot and passenger were wearing shoulder harnesses, they extricated themselves and were assessed by a doctor that was on site. Both suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital for observation. Police, fire personnel, an ambulance, TSB and TC attended.