What happened
On 5 June 2016, a MCR-01 Banbi, registration G-CUTE, was positioned at the departure hold at Brimpton Airfield for a private flight. Due to a prior accident at the airfield, operations were temporarily suspended, prompting the pilot to shut down the engine and open the canopy.
After a three-hour delay, the airfield reopened. The pilot performed pre-takeoff checks but did not visually verify the status of the canopy locks, as they were positioned behind his shoulders. Following takeoff, the canopy became unlatched and opened mid-flight. The pilot found it difficult to maintain altitude despite applying full power and subsequently initiated a left-hand circuit to return to the runway. The aerodynamic difficulties caused by the open canopy prevented a standard flare, resulting in a heavy landing that caused damage to the landing gear and minor damage to a propeller tip. There were no injuries to the pilot.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events following the airfield closure and the pilot's subsequent pre-takeoff procedures. It was established that the pilot did not perform a visual inspection of the canopy locks prior to departure. The pilot acknowledged that the interruption in flight operations should have prompted a complete restart of all pre-takeoff checklists to ensure the aircraft was properly configured for flight.