What happened
On 16 July 2009, an Aerosport Ltd Ikarus C42, registration G-CEAN, was engaged in a training flight at Popham Airfield, Hampshire. The flight was being conducted by a flying instructor under favorable weather conditions, characterized by a light southerly wind.
The session involved a bi-annual flight where the instructor demonstrated a takeoff from the 900-metre grass Runway 21, followed by a simulated engine failure and a landing on the remaining runway. Following these demonstrations, the pilot performed two attempts at the same maneuver. During the initial attempt, the aircraft struck the ground with significant force, resulting in damage to the nose landing gear, the trailing edge beam, and several structural tubes.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot and subsequent enquiries by the AAIB. The instructor noted that while the aircraft appeared stable throughout the maneuver, the impact occurred in the final milliseconds of the landing. The instructor also suggested that the aircraft might have encountered windshear during the descent.
During the flight, the instructor had previously advised the pilot that a positive round-out was essential to compensate for the up-sloping nature of the runway. Following the hard landing, the instructor took control of the aircraft for a second attempt, which the pilot completed successfully.
Findings
- The aircraft sustained damage to the nose landing gear, trailing edge beam, rear tubes, and one under tube.
- There were no injuries to the crew.
- The primary factor in the hard landing was the failure to achieve a positive round-out to account for the runway's upward slope.