What happened
On 17 February 2002, a RAPTOR microlight, registration ZU-COV, was conducting a private flight from Lasertronics toward Pilanesberg. The flight was accompanied by a passenger. During the transit, the pilot encountered a malfunction with the aircraft's radio equipment. In response to the unserviceable radio, the pilot elected to abort the mission and return to the departure point at Lasertronics.
Approximately ten minutes after initiating the turn, the aircraft's engine suffered a significant loss of power. The engine RPM dropped from 6500 to a range between 3800 and 4500. This loss of thrust necessitated an emergency descent, and the pilot performed a forced landing in a patch of bushy terrain located between Lanseria and the Hartebeostek tracking station. During the touchdown, the aircraft's front wheel impacted a rock, causing the landing gear to collapse and the aircraft to overturn onto its left side.
The investigation
No on-site investigation was performed at the time of the occurrence. The aircraft sustained damage to the propeller, the profile tube landing gear, and the keel tube. The pilot sustained one minor injury to the lip, while the passenger remained uninjured. Following the incident, the aircraft was transported to an approved maintenance organization where repairs were completed, including a total replacement of the aircraft's wiring. Subsequent test flights indicated that the engine was operating normally.
Findings
- The engine experienced a sudden drop in RPM, leading to the loss of flight power.
- The impact with a rock during the forced landing caused the landing gear to fail and the aircraft to capsize.
- A potential electrical fault in the wiring may have been the underlying cause, as it could simultaneously account for both the initial radio failure and the subsequent engine power loss, though this was not definitively proven.