Garrison Ronald L ZODIAC 601 XL N315SV

Summary

On 8 June 2021 at about 20:00 local time, a Garrison Ronald L ZODIAC 601 XL registered N315SV, operated by Garrison Ronald L, was involved in an accident near Cumberland, Maryland, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 June 2021 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Cumberland, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Mexico Farms Airport (1W3)

Coordinates

39.6048, -78.7458

Aircraft

Garrison Ronald L ZODIAC 601 XL

Registration

N315SV

Category

Airplane

Year built

2012

Engines

1

Operator

Garrison Ronald L

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA21LA247

1 person had minor injuries.

An inadvertent release of the canopy, which allowing the canopy to open during flight and led to an inflight loss of airplane control. Contributing to the accident was the lack of any safeguard to prevent the inadvertent opening of the canopy.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Shortly after departure, the noncertificated pilot and builder of the experimental amateur-built airplane was flying at 1,000 ft mean sea level on the base leg of the airport traffic pattern when the right side of the cockpit canopy suddenly came loose and popped open. This was immediately followed by the left side of the canopy opening and then the entire canopy opened. The pilot stated this open canopy acted like a “giant air brake” and the airplane entered a descent that he was unable to arrest. The airplane descended into trees bordering the airport property, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. Postaccident examination of the right side canopy frame and latching mechanism found that although the latch did not show any irregularities or anomalous preimpact damage, the mechanism could easily be opened with slight finger pressure and no safeguard was present to keep the latch from opening prematurely. In addition, the several layers of foam weatherstripping installed along the frame of the canopy may have made it difficult for the latch to become properly seated during closure. Based on this information, it is likely that the latching mechanism was not completely secured prior to the flight or that the pilot inadvertently released the mechanism, with resulted in the canopy opening fully while in the airport traffic pattern, and the subsequent inability to sustain further flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.