Microlight crashed into Foston garden after losing power on take-off

A microlight was wrecked but its pilot walked away with only minor injuries and his passenger was unhurt after the tiny aircraft crashed on take-off from Foston airfield.

The crash on the morning of August 18 ended with the pilot using a Leylandii hedge to break the impact and in order to avoid nearby houses and gardens.

The incident is revealed in a newly published Air Accident Investigation Branch crash report. The report says that as the 2004 built Thruster – reg G CCUZ – owned by Keiron Davey, of Marston, and Mark Bryan Sears of Meden Vale, Mansfield, took off the engine lost power about 100ft above the ground.

The report continues: “The pilot was faced with limited choices for a forced landing, so used a nearby Leylandii hedge as an energy absorber. After the aircraft came to a stop, the pilot and his passenger were able to vacate the aircraft having sustained minor injuries. The aircraft was severely damaged in the accident.”

The 48-year-old pilot, who had 1,740 hours flying experience, had carried out pre-flight checks before taxiing for take-off and had then accelerated along the runway and was passing the end of the runway when the engine lost power, says the report.

It says that when the engine lost power the pilot was aware that his options for landing were limited by houses, their gardens and the Leylandii hedge.

“With little choice, he decided to try to stall the aircraft to ‘pancake’ onto the hedge. This he did, hitting the hedge just below the top. There was a loud bang and the aircraft came to a stop,” says the report.

It says that due to the rapid onset of events the pilot had no time to understand what was causing the power loss and had concentrated on landing the aircraft. He said afterwards when describing what happened: “It dawned on me that I had very limited options, I chose the least worst, the hedge”.

No firm cause for the loss of power has been identified but the report says that investigators could find no evidence of a component failure or malfunction that could have led to the loss of power.

However, the report says that there had been a build-up of soot inside the engine which would result in the engine running with an overly rich fuel air ratio and in most circumstances that would cause a power reduction.

It says that the pilot was left with no other practical choice than to carry out a forced landing and adds that the severity of what happened was reduced by the hedge and the fact the pilot and passenger were both wearing four point safety harnesses.

Mr Sears spoke to the Journal after the crash, saying he was devastated to learn that he had been refused permission to fly from the airfield following the incident.