What happened
On 4 July 2019, a Chaser S 447 microlight trike, registration G-MYBU, was performing a private flight at Mendlesham Airfield in Suffolk. Shortly after departing the runway, the pilot attempted to turn right to clear the airfield and establish a better wind angle. During this maneuver, the front strut of the aircraft disconnected from its forward mounting point on the nose of the trike body, leaving the component dangling from the wing attachment.
Recognizing that the aircraft's structural integrity was critically compromised, the pilot attempted an emergency landing. Due to the low altitude at the time of the failure, there was insufficient height to return to the runway. The aircraft subsequently struck crops located to the right of the landing strip. The impact resulted in minor injuries to the pilot and caused extensive damage to the airframe, including a broken monopole, bent seat tubes, and damaged spats.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the assembly of the aircraft's front strut. The pilot had rigged the aircraft the previous day following a wing cleaning. As this was the pilot's first time rigging this specific aircraft, an experienced friend assisted with the process. The investigation established that while the pin used to secure the strut passed through the strut tube itself, it failed to pass through the holes on the aircraft's nose mounting point.
Although the unaligned holes on the attachment point would have been visible, this error was not identified during the rigging process or during the subsequent pre-flight inspections. Once the aircraft was airborne, the aerodynamic loads acting on the wing caused the improperly secured strut to separate from the trike body.