January 19, 2023
TSB reports on mid-2022 ultralight fatal collision with terrain near Didsbury
Jon Robinson
Aircraft accident site, looking east. (Source: TSB)
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report (A22W0057) into the July 13, 2022, fatal collision with terrain of a privately registered Zlin Aviation Savage Cub advanced ultralight aircraft near Olds-Didsbury airport, AB.
The aircraft at 9:55am departed a private airstrip approximately seven nautical miles (NM) east of Didsbury for a local recreational flight with the owner/pilot and a passenger on board.
The flight was conducted within 4 NM of the private airstrip at various altitudes up to approximately 1100 feet above ground level (AGL). Details of the flight path were captured by a portable GPS and investigators also obtained a smartphone video of the last minute of the flight recorded from inside the aircraft.
The pilot was conducting intentional stalls of the aircraft, first a power on stall at 1100 feet AGL, followed by another power-on stall at 900 feet AGL, when TSB explains the left wing dropped and the aircraft entered a left spin and eventually impacted a field 0.7 NM south of the airstrip at 10:14 am.
For more information on the investigation visit TSB’s website.