On January 24th, a solo student pilot crashed about 90 seconds after taking off at Buttonville Municipal Airport in Toronto, Canada. The aircraft, a Bellanca 8KCAB Decathlon, was destroyed and the pilot died in the accident. When the pilot made the “Mayday” call, he stated that the engine was running roughly. Just before the crash, the propeller was rotating at 2,700 rpm and the engine was running at 65% power. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigated the incident and their accident report stated that there were light winds, good visibility, and few clouds, and the aircraft had just completed an annual inspection. The pilot’s logbook was looked over, and it was discovered that he disregarded safety multiple times. First, most of his flight hours had been unsupervised or without an actual flight instructor. Second, investigators learned that the pilot had carried passengers illegally on multiple occasions. The rest of the article talks about how this accident could have been prevented if the pilot received consistent training and focusing on preflight actions because witnesses saw him banking the aircraft hard to the right something you never want to do with a failing engine.
As soon as I read this article, I instantly thought of preflighting the aircraft. The pilot was known for ignoring safety rules, so it only makes sense that he rushed through the preflight planning just to get up in the air as soon as possible. At the end of the day the accident could have been avoided with better communication. Flight instructors who taught the student and signed his solo endorsement should have enforced how important preflighting an aircraft is. The student could have never learned how to safely land an aircraft in distress either because most of his flights he was by himself unsupervised or carrying passengers. If the pilot knew how to do a successful emergency landing instead of turning the yoke aggressively, he could still be alive today. Communication would have saved this student pilot’s life.
https://www.flyingmag.com/fatal-decathlon-accident-canada-investigation