Test flight pilots leap from plane
15 February 2010, 09:17
By Yusuf Moolla
Taking a locally built prototype aircraft to its limits, two men were injured when the light plane crashed into the sea at Tinley Manor, north of Durban, on Saturday.
Test pilots Carlos Garcia-Cabral and Sean Fraser, of Pretoria, were testing their yellow Sling plane when they encountered problems and were forced to bale out.
The men donned their parachutes and jumped from the plane, but were hurt when they hit the ground.
Garcia-Cabral, an SA Civil Aviation Authority Class II test pilot, sustained a cracked vertebra while Fraser escaped with minor injuries.
Netcare911 spokesman Jeff Wicks said Garcia-Cabral was flown by helicopter to Umhlanga Hospital, while Fraser went there by road.
The plane made headlines last year after being flown around the world.
National Sea Rescue Institute Durban deputy station commander Clifford Ireland said the institute was alerted to the accident and arrived at the scene to find the men being treated by paramedics.
NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said rescuers helped police divers try to recover the downed craft. The search would continue this morning.
In August last year, Mike Blyth and James Pitman arrived back at Springs Airfield, Gauteng, after flying the Sling turboprop light sports aircraft - which they had built with their team, The Airplane Factory - for 40 days, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 45 000km.
Blyth, Pitman and The Airplane Factory team were devastated to have lost the plane, but relieved that the test pilots were not seriously hurt.
"The accident took place when the test pilots... were doing spin testing of the aircraft," they said on the company's website.
Spin testing is done by flying the plane nose-up until it stalls. The plane then plunges nose-first towards the ground and is intended to be pulled out of the dive before it crashes.
"In initial tests, the aircraft recovered predictably and quickly, but in the interests of testing the aircraft above and beyond the ordinary requirements, and in view of the sterling performance of the aircraft up to the point of the accident, the pilots, both qualified test pilots, decided to increase the number of spins before recovery.
"Unfortunately the pilots were unable to recover the aircraft in the altitude available to them and at 4 000 feet they cut the engine and deployed the ballistic 'chute."
It is believed the ballistic parachute, which should have brought the plane gently down, failed to deploy. However, the test pilots had been flying with their parachutes strapped on, and baled out.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.
Garcia-Cabral's wife, Jacqueline, speaking from her husband's hospital bedside on Sunday, said: "Despite the serious injury, he is recovering well and I am sure that he will make a full recovery."
Blyth said it was important to test the planes despite the loss of the craft.
"The flight formed part of a structured test programme, which was why both pilots were qualified test pilots wearing parachutes."
The turboprop-driven Sling is The Airplane Factory's first aircraft. It can be bought ready to fly or as a kit to be assembled. The standard price for the basic Sling is R575 000. Optional features are available.
The 6.6m two-seater is powered by a Rotax engine, developing 80hp to 115hp, depending on specifications.
Taking a locally built prototype aircraft to its limits, two men were injured when the light plane crashed into the sea at Tinley Manor, north of Durban, on Saturday.
Test pilots Carlos Garcia-Cabral and Sean Fraser, of Pretoria, were testing their yellow Sling plane when they encountered problems and were forced to bale out.
The men donned their parachutes and jumped from the plane, but were hurt when they hit the ground.
Garcia-Cabral, an SA Civil Aviation Authority Class II test pilot, sustained a cracked vertebra while Fraser escaped with minor injuries.
Netcare911 spokesman Jeff Wicks said Garcia-Cabral was flown by helicopter to Umhlanga Hospital, while Fraser went there by road.
The plane made headlines last year after being flown around the world.
National Sea Rescue Institute Durban deputy station commander Clifford Ireland said the institute was alerted to the accident and arrived at the scene to find the men being treated by paramedics.
NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said rescuers helped police divers try to recover the downed craft. The search would continue this morning.
In August last year, Mike Blyth and James Pitman arrived back at Springs Airfield, Gauteng, after flying the Sling turboprop light sports aircraft - which they had built with their team, The Airplane Factory - for 40 days, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 45 000km.
Blyth, Pitman and The Airplane Factory team were devastated to have lost the plane, but relieved that the test pilots were not seriously hurt.
"The accident took place when the test pilots... were doing spin testing of the aircraft," they said on the company's website.
Spin testing is done by flying the plane nose-up until it stalls. The plane then plunges nose-first towards the ground and is intended to be pulled out of the dive before it crashes.
"In initial tests, the aircraft recovered predictably and quickly, but in the interests of testing the aircraft above and beyond the ordinary requirements, and in view of the sterling performance of the aircraft up to the point of the accident, the pilots, both qualified test pilots, decided to increase the number of spins before recovery.
"Unfortunately the pilots were unable to recover the aircraft in the altitude available to them and at 4 000 feet they cut the engine and deployed the ballistic 'chute."
It is believed the ballistic parachute, which should have brought the plane gently down, failed to deploy. However, the test pilots had been flying with their parachutes strapped on, and baled out.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.
Garcia-Cabral's wife, Jacqueline, speaking from her husband's hospital bedside on Sunday, said: "Despite the serious injury, he is recovering well and I am sure that he will make a full recovery."
Blyth said it was important to test the planes despite the loss of the craft.
"The flight formed part of a structured test programme, which was why both pilots were qualified test pilots wearing parachutes."
The turboprop-driven Sling is The Airplane Factory's first aircraft. It can be bought ready to fly or as a kit to be assembled. The standard price for the basic Sling is R575 000. Optional features are available.
The 6.6m two-seater is powered by a Rotax engine, developing 80hp to 115hp, depending on specifications.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on February 15, 2010
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