History of the Flight
On 9 June 2016, at 1045 hrs, G-OJDS, an Ikarus C42 FB80 microlight, departed from City of Derry Airport (EGAE) in Northern Ireland. The flight was destined for Kirkbride aerodrome in Cumbria, with two persons on board. The pilot, aged 68, held a UK National Private Pilot’s Licence. The aircraft was powered by a single Rotax 912-UL piston engine and was manufactured in 2004.
Another aircraft, G-CDUS, departed at 1044 hrs with the same destination. The pilots had planned the route together, but there was no intention to fly in formation. G-OJDS initially routed toward the Coleraine Visual Reporting Point. At 1058 hrs, shortly before leaving the ATC frequency, the pilot reported an altitude of 1,200 ft and stated he was routing toward Port Rush and descending to maintain visual meteorological conditions.
At 1103 hrs, a commercial flight reported to Scottish ATC that an aircraft with callsign Golf Juliet Sierra was attempting to make contact. The controller could not hear the transmissions. The callsign for G-OJDS was Golf Oscar Juliet Delta Sierra, though whether the transmission originated from that aircraft was not confirmed.
The pilot of G-CDUS recalled seeing G-OJDS for the last time at approximately 1128 hrs near Cushendun, on the coast about 32 nm north of Belfast. He observed nothing to indicate a problem. As he continued south of Cushendun, visibility was 3 to 5 km in haze with a poorly defined horizon, and fog was present over the sea. He climbed above the haze layer, which extended to about 2,000 ft amsl, then turned east toward Stranraer and contacted Scottish ATC at 1156 hrs.
G-OJDS was reported missing at approximately 1900 hrs when the pilot of G-CDUS telephoned City of Derry Airport to inquire if the aircraft had returned.
Wreckage and Recovery
At 1342 hrs on 10 June 2016, sections of the rear fuselage of G-OJDS were spotted floating in the sea 6.9 nm south-east of Cushendun.
Investigation
The AAIB examined images of the recovered pieces and determined that the aircraft had struck the sea with significant force. However, due to the limited amount of material recovered and the lack of other substantive evidence, the investigation was unable to determine the cause of the loss.