What happened
On 22 June 2021, an Urban Air Samba UFM-10, registration EI-DXT, landed on the grass runway at Fethard Airstrip, Co. Tipperary, during a general aviation flight. The aircraft, carrying a pilot and one passenger, had departed from Fermoy Airfield earlier that day.
As the aircraft slowed to approximately 20 to 25 km/h during the landing roll on Runway 07, the left wingtip made contact with a growing rapeseed crop located adjacent to the runway. This contact triggered a sudden leftward turn, causing the aircraft to veer off the prepared surface and into the adjacent field. The impact resulted in the partial collapse of the nose landing gear, the detachment of the right main landing gear, and damage to the left main gear. Despite the substantial damage to the airframe and landing gear, the crew and passenger exited the aircraft without injury, and no fire occurred.
The investigation
The AAIU investigation examined the aircraft's dimensions, the runway conditions, and the pilot's actions. The investigation established that the aircraft has a wingspan of 9.93 m, while the runway width at the site of the incident was measured at approximately 12.1 to 12.3 m. This left a lateral margin of only about one meter between the wingtips and the crops on either side.
The pilot noted that while permission to land had been obtained from the airstrip owner, there had been no prior discussion regarding the width of the runway or the height of the crops. The pilot also observed that the crop height was significantly greater than the vertical clearance of the aircraft's wingtips (approximately 0.95 m). Meteorological data confirmed a crosswind was present during the landing.
Findings
- The pilot's position on the runway was slightly left of the centerline, which, combined with the narrow margin of error, led to the wingtip strike.
- The height of the rapeseed crop exceeded the ground clearance of the aircraft's wings.
- The lack of lateral separation between the wingtips and the crops made contact inevitable once the aircraft drifted from the center.
- The presence of a crosswind made maintaining the center of an unmarked grass runway particularly difficult.