29 Apr 2016: BUCKEYE INDUSTRIES INC DREAM MACHINE 582 NO SERIES

29 Apr 2016: BUCKEYE INDUSTRIES INC DREAM MACHINE 582 NO SERIES (N9447T) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Fortville, IN, United States

Probable cause

The collapse of the powered parachute's canopy for a reason that could not be determined, because postaccident examination revealed no anomalies with the parachute.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On April 29, 2016, about 1640 eastern daylight time, a Buckeye Industries Dream Machine 582 powered parachute, N9447T, was damaged when it struck the ground near Fortville, Indiana. The pilot received serious injuries. The aircraft was registered to and operated by an individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight was reported to be a flight test following maintenance. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not on a flight plan. The local flight originated from Whybrew Field Airport (08IN), Fortville, Indiana, shortly before the accident.

The pilot reported that the accident flight was a test flight following installation of a different canopy on the powered parachute. He reported that he took off from runway 18 and climbed out to about 100 ft agl. He stated that he made a gentle turn into a light wind and the parachute collapsed. The powered parachute fell to the ground and landed flat, breaking the right landing gear axle. The pilot suffered serious injuries as a result of the fall. The pilot speculated that a combination of turbulence and the effect of the turn could have unloaded the parachute, allowing it to collapse, but he could not be sure. He added that a higher altitude may have allowed the parachute to re-deploy. The pilot reported that the parachute passed an inspection by the manufacturer after the accident.

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 310/05kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.