What happened
On July 3, 2007, a private STODDAR-HAMILTON GLASSAIR SUPER II FT, registration EC-YPH, departed Casarrubios del Monte aerodrome for a local flight. The aircraft, carrying a pilot and one passenger, performed a circuit to the west before executing a maneuver involving a landing and subsequent takeoff.
The initial landing was excessively long, resulting in the aircraft traveling past the end of the runway onto unpaved terrain. During this rollout, the aircraft struck two consecutive ground elevations and a bush. These impacts caused the right main landing gear wheel to detach from the aircraft.
Upon realizing the wheel was missing, the pilot attempted to contact the aerodrome. While the pilot could receive transmissions, he was unable to transmit. The crew decided to divert to Cuatro Vlanding Airport to utilize its available emergency services. During the flight, the pilot attempted to contact the Cuatro Vientos tower multiple times without success, eventually performing a standard communications failure pattern by flying low, toggling lights, and wing-rocking.
At 20:54 local time, the aircraft landed on a grass runway at Cuatro Vientos. During the landing, the nose gear collapsed and detached, causing the aircraft to slide to the right. The propeller struck the ground, and a small fuel leak occurred near the right wingtip. Both occupants escaped the aircraft uninjured.
The investigation
Investigators examined the runway at Casarrubios del Monte and confirmed that the aircraft's tracks extended 3.2 meters beyond the runway end. The investigation identified two distinct, deep impacts on the ground caused by terrain irregularities, followed by a collision with vegetation. The bolts securing the right wheel were found to have suffered brittle fractures due to these heavy impacts.
Regarding the communication failure, investigators inspected the audio connection box. They discovered that while the microphone at the co-pilot's station functioned correctly, the pilot's microphone failed to transmit because the female jack pins on the pilot's side were spread too far apart, preventing a proper electrical connection.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was a hard impact with two consecutive terrain elevations, which caused the failure and loss of the right main landing gear wheel.
- The pilot's limited experience in this specific aircraft type (approximately 5 hours) may have contributed to the excessively long landing at the departure aerodrome.
- The loss of the nose gear and propeller damage during the emergency landing at Cuatro Vientos was an unavoidable consequence of the initial gear failure.
- The inability to communicate with the tower was due to a mechanical defect in the pilot's microphone jack, rather than damage from the initial impact.