A low-altitude manoeuvre causing an ultralight plane to go into a spin immediately preceded a fatal crash east of Didsbury, Alta., in July, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB).
Just before 10 a.m. on July 13, 2022, a privately-registered Zlin Savage Cub took off from a private airstrip seven nautical miles east of Didsbury for a “local recreational flight” with two men onboard: a 69-year-old local pilot and a 65-year-old male passenger from New Zealand.
TSB investigators tracked the flight’s path via portable GPS and obtained smartphone video taken inside the plane of the last minute of flight.
The video showed an “intentional” power-on stall at 1,100 feet above ground, a successful recovery and another power-on stall at 900 feet above ground.
According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, power-on stalls can happen during a loss of engine power during takeoff, but can also be practiced at less than full power.
“At the point of the stall when the nose dropped, the left wing dropped as well and the aircraft entered a left spin,” the TSB report said.
The TSB said the pilot pulled the control stick back and to the right.
“The aircraft’s attitude near the end of the spinning manoeuvre was relatively flat compared to the typical nose-down attitude for light aircraft in a spin (which is normally fairly steep),” the TSB report reads.
The aircraft hit the ground just over one kilometre away from the airstrip at around 10:15 a.m.
“The aircraft struck the ground with little-to-no forward speed in a shallow, nose-down attitude with a slight right-wing-low bank angle,” the TSB said, noting the landing gear was pushed up into and around the cabin and wing struts failed to hold the wings up from the collision.
The pilot’s family started a search at around 3:30 p.m. and discovered the wreckage an hour later. First responders arrived at the scene at 5:15 p.m.
Both men were declared dead on the scene.
The TSB reminds pilots that stalls should be conducted at an altitude that allows a safe recovery.
“When conducting stalls, there is always a possibility that the aircraft will enter an inadvertent spin, so pilots should be familiar with the spin recovery techniques for their aircraft model,” the TSB said.
“In addition, pilots should not conduct stalls when there are passengers on board.”