Accident Following Engine Failure At Takeoff Claims Decathlon Pilot
At Toronto’s Buttonville Municipal airport, they had an aircraft accident that happened on January 24, 2019. The aircraft that was being used was a Bellanca 8KCAB Decathlon and a student pilot was soloing in the aircraft at the time. When the student took off everything was going okay, but 90 seconds the student pilot reported hearing odd sounds coming from the engine and the student transmitted a “Mayday” to tower. The student tried to make it back to the runway but wasn’t able to and slam into the ground and died from the impact forces from the ground. From the reports, the weather was fairly good, with good visibility and with a few scattered clouds. Another report said that the aircraft just an annual inspection for legal operation. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada looked into this and said that the engine wasn’t generating at full power before impact. Also, the oil pressure was near the bottom of the safety limits for that aircraft. So far they have not able what caused the engine to act like that because after the accident they inspected the engine wasn’t able to see any signs of the engine losing power.
Looking at this article communication was critical because if communication as a bit better the accident could have been prevented or give the student pilot a chance to survive the wreck. For example, there could have been a lack of communication when the aircraft was being inspected and things were forgotten during the inspection test on the engine. Another error could have happened during the preflight and the flight instructor wasn’t around to for the preflight checklist. If there was better communication with the pilot and the people who service the aircraft then the chance of this error could have prevented.
Link: https://www.flyingmag.com/fatal-decathlon-accident-canada-investigation