The pilot was departing from a soft, dry, 2,200-foot turf airfield using soft/short field procedures. After becoming airborne, the airplane settled back onto the runway, became airborne, and settled onto the runway a second time. At this time the right main wheel separated and the landing gear strut dug into the terrain spinning the airplane around and bringing it to an abrupt stop.
Category: 2009
The airplane landed from a skydiving flight with a remaining passenger after three parachutists had jumped from the airplane. The engine was not shut down and the airplane was pointed toward the vehicle waiting for the passenger to deplane. When the passenger exited the airplane, a ground crewmember leaned toward the airplane to talk to the pilot while the passenger went around the right side of the airplane.
During a skydiving flight at approximately 14,000 feet, an instructor positioned himself at the door opening with his jump student nearby. The student inadvertently pulled the instructor’s reserve parachute D-ring, deploying the chute and pulling the instructor out of the airplane
The pilot stated that after the 20 skydivers left the airplane, he “descended and entered at a 45-degree angle for the downwind leg for landing on runway 08.” Once on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot stated that the “windshield began fogging up.” The pilot decided to make a 360-degree turn to the right while he wiped the window with a rag.
The pilot stated that after departure and climbing to approximately 200 feet, the engine lost power and the airplane began to descend. During the forced landing the airplane struck a power line and impacted terrain resulting in substantial damage.
The airplane used for the skydiving operation was equipped with a foot step just above the right wheel, which the skydivers used to launch from the airplane. As the last of four skydivers stepped on the foot step, the right main landing gear fell away. The pilot reported that after he flew around for about 1 1/2 hours to burn off fuel, he intended to perform a low pass over the runway before coming around to land.
The non-instrument rated private pilot planned to attend a skydiving event near the destination airport that began the next day. Prior to departure, the pilot was aware of the low clouds affecting the destination airport. The pilot told an acquaintance at the destination airport that he needed to make the flight that night because of deteriorating weather conditions that were expected on the next day.