Dragonfly

Safety

Telling the

tale

An engine failure leads to a barely controlled forced landing, leaving a young pilot lucky to escape with serious injuries 58

By David lentle

O

n June 16 last year I was up early to avoid the Comrade’s race traffic en route to Virginia Airport. It was a lovely crystal clear morning with not a cloud in sight, ideal to test fly the Dragonfly canard. Arriving at the airport we pulled the Dragonfly out of the hangar. After a thorough pre-flight I launched into the smooth air. I headed to La-Merci and did a few touch and goes on their grass runway. Feeling comfortable with the aircraft I returned back to Virginia and was pleased at my greaser of a landing. We topped up the fuel tanks and packed crisps and cold drinks for my flight to East London. I climbed into the cockpit and waved to my helpers, not knowing that it may be my last flight. After another careful engine run-up, I smoothly opened the throttle. In no time the tail was up and I was on my way. I routed to Cato Ridge and then south towards Hiberdene, staying clear of Durban airspace as I wasn’t transponder

The cockpit filled with thick white smoke and steam. equipped. The route was scenic and once clear of the TMA, I climbed into the flight levels. Being a nice clear morning I had a lovely view of the Drakensberg. I couldn’t think of a better place to be. On passing 5000ft I changed frequency to Durban Approach to let them know my whereabouts and intentions. I was about to press the microphone button when I was stunned by a loud noise and vibration. I cursed sharply when I saw the propeller windmilling but remained calm, thanks to my many outlandings in gliders. I had done this often before and this one was going to be just fine. But then the cockpit filled with thick white smoke and steam. The heat was soon intense and oil began to cover the canopy - greatly reducing my forward

59

Safety

Left: SAP officers inspect the Dragonfly’s cockpit. Right top: Impact caused massive cockpit damage. Right centre: Dragonfly’s Subaru powerplant. Right bottom: Footwell damage.

visibility. This was not like flying a glider anymore. It was a bad recipe for any pilot and I only had myself to deal with it. I transmitted a Mayday to Durban approach as I started a descending turn to the left, searching for a possible place to put it down. I had to turn left as it was the only side of the cockpit I could see out of. During my decent I was talking to both ATC and an SAA flight inbound to Durban from Port Elizabeth. The SAA crew asked me what my radial and DME was from East London. I could only reply that I was in an experimental aircraft with just a hand-held GPS and a map. I gave my distance from East London and roughly how far inland I reckoned I was. With my limited view out the side of the cockpit I could only give small details of what I saw on the ground to describe my position. I had about five minutes to think about my impact as, not being able to see forward, I expected it would be ugly. My eyes started burning as the smoke in the cockpit was intense. Sweat was pouring off me and I couldn’t endure the heat coming into the cabin. I was desperate for ventilation, but the thought of ejecting the canopy and getting a faceful of hot oil stopped me. I was battling to see my instruments and work out how much time I had left. Then something flashed past on my left, making me realise my time in the sky was nearly up. I pressed the PPT and said “Guys, I think this is going to hurt”. I took one last breath. I don’t know if I closed my eyes. Not having any flaps to slow down, I impacted the side of a hill at around 120 mph. I don’t know how my body survived. The composite structure folded, slamming my face into the instrument panel and my legs crunched under the dash. I was conscious throughout the whole episode. I am known for living life on the edge but this caught me by surprise. I wouldn’t want anyone to endure the pain I have had to deal with. A local doctor was not far away and assisted putting up a drip and getting me out the wreckage. I had to explain to him how to extract my very

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broken body out of the mangled aircraft. The SAA flight diverted from their course, found me, then circled overhead. They radioed my position to the rescue team, a police helicopter. Later a 911 helicopter arrived from Pietermaritzberg where they were on Comrades duty. I have always wanted a helicopter ride but don’t remember much of this one. The rescue team took me to St Augustine’s hospital where I spent a long time in the intensive care unit and a further seven weeks in the ward. On leaving hospital I spent the next six months flat on my back with 24 hour parental care. My injuries were extensive. Starting from the bottom; I had two shattered ankles. My left tibia and fibula protruded from the side of my leg and into the dirt. I cracked my pelvis, broke my coccyx, cracked a couple of ribs and had second degree burns over my whole back, (caused by a fraction of a second’s impact friction.) My right elbow was shattered (it now works on a metal frame), I broke my left wrist and severed its tendons, which stopped my fingers closing. My jaw was displaced to the side and flattened and my nose needed to be pulled out of my face. Furthermore, I had to have a blood clot removed from my lower back, caused from splintered bone from my spine piercing my nerves. This clot has cost me control of my bowel and bladder. One year later, I am still in a wheelchair, having yet more bone grafts to my legs. Everyone around has been wonderfully helpful and supportive. It really is nice to know that there are people out there who care. I would like thank the 911 rescue team, police chopper guys , the doctor and farmer at the scene, the SAA pilots, ATC, the surgeons and medical staff at St Augustine’s Hospital, Durban, and all my friends and family. Flying is fun and that’s why we do it, so enjoy it. Please just keep safety in mind. I’m longing to fly again and can’t wait to speak to you all over the airways.

j

We all face risks every time we fly. So please just take a minute to think on the following: • How safe is your flying? • Think about your safety and everyone who flies with you. An engine failure gives no warning. • How is your aircraft’s weight vs. performance? - especially if you are flying light singles and twins. • Remember the performance of a light twin on one engine is very poor. Some cannot maintain height on one engine at sea level. Remember the famous saying: The remaining engine is there to take you to the scene of the crash. • How is your flight time and duty - how tired are you? • How will your aircraft fly out of a hot and high field? • Not having flaps on the Dragonfly was a huge problem. Flaps allow one to control the approach - especially if over or undershooting and slow the aircraft for a safe landing. • An aircraft which has flaps is a much safer aircraft - when in a sticky situation you can at least reduce the touch down speed.

Considering my situation I had selected a good field but only had one chance at making it in. Not being able to see out the front of the aircraft and having the extra knots behind me, I had the inertia which carried me past the field and into a bank. Perhaps In retrospect, I should have side-slipped some of the speed off and been able to see more from out the side of the canopy.