Bailey-Moyes DRAGONFLY UNREG

Summary

On 19 April 2024 at about 17:30 local time, a Bailey-Moyes DRAGONFLY registered UNREG was involved in an accident near Groveland, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 April 2024 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Groveland, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Sheets (FA42)

Coordinates

28.0000, -81.0000

Aircraft

Bailey-Moyes DRAGONFLY

Registration

UNREG

Category

Airplane

Year built

2024

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA185

1 person died.

The pilot’s improper installation and inspection of the right lower wing strut attachment bolt, which resulted in the inflight failure of the right wing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to witnesses, the airplane departed and climbed to an altitude about 200 to 300 ft above ground level and then turned before the right wing “folded upward” and the airplane descended in a spiral to the ground. Postaccident examination revealed that the right lower wing strut attachment was not properly assembled; the bolt intended to connect the wing strut block to the fuselage bulkhead was threaded through the fuselage structure and tightened, but had not passed through the hole in the strut block, resulting in no load-bearing connection between the wing strut and the fuselage. The absence of deformation or damage to the bolt and wing strut block at the attachment point was consistent with the improper installation of the bolt. Without the structural support of the right lower wing strut, the wing was unable to sustain the aerodynamic loads encountered during the initial climb, resulting in an in-flight structural failure of the right wing. The accident flight was the airplane’s first flight since it was assembled by the pilot. The airplane was unregistered and had not been issued an airworthiness certificate or operating limitations, nor had it been inspected by a designated airworthiness representative or an FAA inspector before the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.