What happened
On August 23, 2017, a paramotor accident occurred in a field near Moravský Žižkov, Czech Republic, during the 6th FAI European Championship in motor paragliding. The pilot, a 23-year-old competitor, was flying a NUCLEON XX 22 powered by a THOR 190 Light engine.
During the competition flight, the pilot had previously shut down the engine to utilize thermal currents. However, after failing to find sufficient lift, the pilot decided to continue the flight using the motor. At an altitude of approximately 130 m AGL, the pilot released the control toggles to use the manual pull-starter to restart the engine. This action caused the paraglider to swing heavily.
At approximately 110 m AGL, the right side of the wing collapsed and briefly re-inflated. Shortly thereafter, at about 85 m AGL, the left side of the wing also collapsed, forcing the aircraft into a steep, left-hand descending spiral. The aircraft struck the ground approximately seven seconds later. The pilot sustained fatal injuries.
The investigation
An investigation by the ÚZPLN established that the pilot was attempting to restart a cold engine using a manual starter, a difficult task because the engine's diaphragm carburetor lacks a choke, making it hard to enrich the mixture during flight. Because the pilot was using both hands to operate the pull-starter, he was not holding the control toggles and could not react to changes in the wing's flight characteristics.
The investigation also examined the structural integrity of the aircraft's harness components. It was found that the right aluminum spreader bar (known as a "beran") deformed under the intense centrifugal forces of the spiral dive. This deformation, combined with the pilot's shift in position due to the collapse, moved the reserve parachute deployment handle out of the pilot's reach by approximately 11 to 13 cm, preventing him from deploying the reserve parachute.
Findings
- The pilot failed to perform a safe landing in suitable terrain despite the low altitude.
- The pilot released the control toggles to attempt a manual engine restart, leaving the aircraft uncontrolled.
- The asymmetric collapse of the wing was initiated by the pilot's lack of control during the engine restart attempt, potentially exacerbated by unstable air currents.
- The pilot was unable to activate the reserve parachute because the deformation of the harness structure and the forces of the rotation made the deployment handle unreachable.