Plane crash landed after canopy opened in flight

The light aircraft landed in a field on barley shortly after taking off fromk fife Airport (Photo: Fife Jammers)

A report into a light aircraft crashing into a field near Kinglassie has revealed its canopy came open unexpectedly shortly after takeoff.

This caused significant handing difficulties for the pilot who elected to carry out an immediate forced landing.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report found that the aircraft came down in field of barley, with the fully-grown crop catching the wings and undercarriage, causing rapid loss of speed and loss of directional control, which resulted in significant damage.

Fortunately, the pilot suffered no serious injuries in the accident, which occurred on August 1 this year, shortly after the aircraft took off from Fife Airport.

The report states that the pilot concluded the most likely cause of the canopy opening in flight was an object fouling the right canopy latch mechanism when the canopy was closed for flight, thus leaving it insecure.

The right side of the canopy lifted up when the aircraft was at a height of about 100-150 feet, with the pilot reporting that he heard “an almighty bang” and a blast of air struck him, blowing off his headset.

The significant extra drag caused the pilot difficulty controlling the aircraft, forcing him to take the decision to land.

The AAIB reported that a post-accident investigation did not reveal faults with the canopy latch mechanisms, but the left cockpit sill was distorted near the latch spigot bracket.

In the report’s analysis, it was stated that the pilot concluded the most likely cause of the accident was the right canopy latch not being fully engaged around its corresponding spigot thereby allowing the canopy to lift up as air loads increased.

The report goes on: “He [the pilot] surmised that the latch operating linkage had probably been fouled when the canopy was initially lowered, thus preventing the latch’s jaws from closing correctly around the spigot.

“Given the damage to the left cockpit sill, the pilot considered it possible that the loud bang and inrush of air could have resulted from the canopy fragmenting due to torsion as the right side of its frame lifted while the left latch remained engaged.

“The pilot reflected that, if one had been available, a secondary canopy locking mechanism.”