A SOLO pilot was forced to make a crash landing on an Irish island after his microlight aircraft’s engine cut out while airborne.
The 38-year-old was on a private flight from Finn Valley Airfield when his engine lost power over Tory Island in Donegal.
Despite three failed attempts to restart the engine, the pilot was forced to make a forced landing on rough ground adjacent to a roadway on the island, a report by the Air Accident Investigation Unit has revealed.
The landing caused ‘substantial’ damage to the aircraft, but only minor injury to the pilot and there was no fire following impact.
The AAIU report further reveals that the organisation, which falls under Ireland’s Department of Transport, was only made aware of the incident by a journalist the following day.
The report states: “[We] became aware of this accident following a telephone call from a local journalist on the day after the accident. Later that day, a call was also received from the Pilot, to report the accident and to advise that the wreckage had been recovered to Finn Valley Airfield.”
They added: “Two Inspectors of Air Accidents inspected the aircraft wreckage at Finn Valley Airfield on 12 May 2016.”
The Pilot informed investigators that the fuel tanks were full prior to departure and that his aircraft had climbed to 4,000 feet as it crossed Tory Sound while travelling towards the island before its engine cut out.
He added that he had descended towards a lighthouse on the western side and completed several orbits over that part of the island, flying for approximately 40minutes, before losing power.
Although he told investigators that his fuel gauge read “nearly full” before the engine cut out, the AAIU report deemed “fuel starvation” due to a blockage to be the most likely cause of the engine cutting out, due to the condition of a fuel tank within the aircraft.
“The investigation considers that the actual physical evidence of the extensive flaking of the coating on the inside of the slipper tank, indicates that fuel starvation due to a blockage caused by this flaking was the most likely reason for the engine cutting out,” the AAIU report states.
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