What happened
On 17 December 2006, a Hornet Trike, registration ZU-BRS, was performing a private flight departing from Lydenburg Aerodrome. The aircraft was carrying one pilot and one passenger. During the initial climb-out, at an altitude of approximately 150 feet above ground level, the aircraft experienced a sudden downward movement of the right-hand wing, initiating a roll.
While the pilot attempted to counteract the rolling motion, the aircraft could not maintain its altitude. The aircraft became completely uncontrollable and struck the ground with the nose wheel first. The impact resulted in two serious injuries and the total destruction of the aircraft. Meteorological conditions at the time were clear with no significant wind or cloud cover.
The investigation
Following the accident, the pilot conducted a post-accident inspection of the wreckage after being discharged from medical care. This inspection revealed that while the wings did not strike the ground during the impact, the leading edge of the left-hand wing was broken near the junction of the flying and landing cables.
Records indicated that the pilot had performed a pre-flight inspection prior to the flight, which was the second sortie of the day. The aircraft's maintenance history showed that the most recent annual inspection had been completed on 09 August 2006, with 41.6 flying hours accumulated since that service.