Airborne REDBACK N528PG

Summary

On 4 May 2016 at about 02:00 local time, a Airborne REDBACK registered N528PG was involved in an accident near Arlington, Washington, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 May 2016 at 02:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Arlington, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Arlington Muni (AWO)

Coordinates

48.1608, -122.1592

Aircraft

Airborne REDBACK

Registration

N528PG

Year built

2002

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Arlington → Arlington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA16CA216

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to adequately secure the aircraft while manually starting the engine from outside the cockpit, which resulted in the unmanned aircraft becoming airborne and colliding with a hangar roof.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot of the weight shift controlled trike, he had spent several hours trying to start the trike on the previous day without success. He recalled that on the morning of the accident, with the ignition off, he sprayed ether into each of the carburetors and pulled several times on the engine's starter cord. He reported that he then turned on the ignition, pulled the starter cord once, the engine started and the trike accelerated forward. He recalled that the trike rolled over the chalks that were in front of the wheels, drug him for about 100 feet before he released the cord, and the trike became airborne. The trike was airborne for several seconds before impacting the rooftop of a hangar and sustaining substantial damage to the wing keel and the control bar. The pilot reported that there were not any pre-accident mechanical failures or anomalies with the trike that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident. The pilot reported that in hind sight, he should have placed the hand throttle to idle before pulling the cord.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.