Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hart, Michigan 49455
Friday, August 24, 2012 18:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying his powered parachute on a local flight when he encountered a strong and gusty tailwind. A video showed that the powered parachute cart then rocked fore and aft, while the parachute canopy moved fore and aft above the cart until the left side of the parachute canopy deformed and collapsed. The powered parachute then entered a descending left spiral. During the descent the left side of the parachute reinflated, and the powered parachute impacted terrain nose down with a partially inflated canopy. A postaccident examination of the wreckage and the video of the accident revealed no evidence of preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
The powered parachute ram-air canopy retains its airfoil shape because of the relative wind airflow entering its front openings. Examination of the accident powered parachute revealed that modifications to lower the canopy's angle of attack had been made, to allow for quicker rotation and additional forward speed. However, these modifications decreased the canopy's angle of attack such that it would partially collapse when wind gusts were encountered.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial deflation of the powered parachute canopy when the pilot flew the aircraft into an area with gusty wind conditions. Contributing to the accident were the modifications that changed the flying characteristics of the parachute.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/24/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hart |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49455 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 434041N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0863037W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1754 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FFX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 772 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KFFX 242154Z AUTO 15005KT 7SM CLR 30/13 A300 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32222 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 17 2013 5:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1674A |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA578 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DESTINY |
| Aircraft Model | XLT |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4C0633 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | -- |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pilot |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SHELBY |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49455-9600 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Pilot |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SHELBY |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 49455-9600 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | -- |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 17 2013 5:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |