A Zenair STOL CH750 amateur-built aircraft crashed at a private airstrip near Sussex, N.B., on July 3, 2019. (Photo: Submitted/Transportation Safety Board)
Investigators say pilot inexperience was a factor in a fatal plane crash at a private airstrip near Sussex, N.B., on July 3.
The Transportation Safety Board released its report Friday into the crash, which killed a 67-year-old man from Kingston.
The Zenair STOL CH750 amateur-built aircraft struck the ground in a “near-vertical position” about 400 feet from the runway, according to the report.
A passing motorist saw the aircraft in a field near the airport in Wards Creek and notified the airport owner, who found the plane around 6:20 p.m.
Daphne Boothe, the lead investigator, said the pilot had performed some flying with an instructor but had never flown solo before.
The pilot had begun flight training in August 2017 on a Cessna 172. He had accumulated fewer than 23 hours of total flight time, said the report.
“With that many hours and a student pilot permit, he would have not been able to fly solo on this aircraft,” said Boothe. “He required still some training and some supervision from an instructor.”
#TSBAir has posted a summary of its class 5 investigation into the 3 July 2019 collision with terrain of an amateur-built Zenair STOL CH750 near Sussex, New Brunswick https://t.co/hPTYPqB4sD
— TSB of Canada (@TSBCanada) August 23, 2019
According to the report, the pilot had not flown his plane since he bought it in September 2017, other than to perform some taxiing runs.
“In 2019, the pilot had not flown since January, except for 2 hours on the Cessna 172 in June prior to the occurrence flight,” read the report.
Boone said they could not determine what caused the crash, but the report did indicate weather conditions at nearby airports were “favourable for visible flight.”
Investigators were not able to recover any flight data and the pilot did not tell anyone where he was going or when he was leaving.
“Without having anyone knowing that this pilot had taken off and was intending to fly, no one was aware of the accident until someone observed it passing by,” Boothe said.
The report also noted the plane’s emergency locator transmitter did not activate and was found in the “off” position.
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