'Cold' affected judgement of pilot injured in Tyrone crash

A 51-year-old pilot injured after crashing his aircraft in Tyrone in May said coldness following a flight from England may have affected his judgement.
Tyrone crash. AAIB picture.Tyrone crash. AAIB picture.
Tyrone crash. AAIB picture.

Details of the accident that occurred on May 12, 2018 have been newly-published in a report by the English Department of Transport's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) in Farnborough.

According to the AAIB report the pilot had flown his Pegasus Quik from Hertfordshire and was coming in to land at Carrickmore Airfield when he got into difficulty.

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"As the aircraft approached the airfield, two other aircraft transmitted that they were back‑tracking Runway 26 to depart," the AAIB stated.

"As the accident aircraft turned onto final the last departing aircraft took off. After crossing the threshold, the pilot attempted to flare the aircraft, but it continued to descend and landed firmly on the asphalt runway," the report added.

At this point the trike unit - a high-powered motorised hang-glider - landed on its nose on a field to the right of the runway and the pilot had to be helped out of the craft.

"It bounced onto grass to the right of the runway nosewheel first, causing the aircraft to nose‑over before coming to rest on its right wing. The pilot was assisted out of the aircraft having sustained minor injuries.

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"The pilot reported that being cold after the flight from Hunsdon may have affected his judgment. He also believed he was distracted by the departing aircraft, causing him to slow down to increase separation from them, and that consequently the aircraft had insufficient airspeed to flare properly and stalled onto the runway," the AAIB concluded.

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