What happened
On 18 October 2002, a Zenair CH 601, registration G-CBUR, was conducting a private flight at Wickenby Airfield, Lincolnshire. The pilot, who had personally constructed the aircraft, was accompanied by a certification test pilot acting as a passenger. The purpose of the flight was to allow the pilot to become familiar with the aircraft's handling characteristics following the completion of required test flying.
During the approach to Runway 34, the pilot elected to land without using flaps, citing concerns regarding potential gusty conditions. Following the approach, the aircraft encountered what the pilot perceived as a strong gust of wind, causing the aircraft to balloon during the flare phase. In an attempt to correct the flight path, the pilot applied power; however, the nose of the aircraft dropped abruptly. This resulted in a heavy nose-down landing, causing the aircraft to bounce forward before coming to a halt.
The investigation
The investigation examined the sequence of events leading to the impact and the physical damage sustained by the aircraft. The nose landing gear collapsed upon impact, and the aircraft suffered further structural damage, including distortion to the fuselage, damage to the left wing, and damage to the firewall bulkhead.
Investigators looked into the pilot's actions and the aerodynamic factors involved. The pilot noted that the nose dropped much faster than anticipated. He suggested two potential contributing factors: the aircraft's low inertia due to its light weight, which may have caused a rapid loss of airspeed, and the possibility that the ballooning maneuver had lifted the aircraft out of ground effect, leading to a sudden loss of lift.