BUCKEYE DREAM MACHINE near Nicholasville, KY — 2024-10-27

Probable cause

The pilot’s loss of control in flight, which resulted in a collision with terrain.

NTSB narrative

A passerby saw the powered parachute wreckage in a field. No eyewitnesses to the accident were identified, and no video of the accident was obtained. Both the pilot and passenger sustained fatal injuries. The passerby observed the parachute uphill from the cart, which was on its right side. He later noted that the day was “beautiful,” with light wind conditions and minimal cloud cover. The aircraft’s initial impact point was about 160 ft downhill from a turf runway that had been cut into a hay field. The aircraft’s cart came to rest about 30 ft past the initial impact point. The nose portion, including the nose landing gear and front seat, was bent upward by the impact. The parachute’s risers were not frayed or damaged and there were no missing panels or damage to the canopy. The engine remained attached to the cart and was leaking fuel from the fuel line when first responders arrived at the scene. All three propeller blades were impact-fractured about a third of the way out from the root and contained organic debris and dirt; the blade damage and debris were consistent with the engine being under power at the time of the accident. The aircraft’s location in relation to the runway, nose-low impact signatures, and indications of engine power production are consistent with the pilot losing control of the aircraft while in the airport’s traffic pattern. Although a pilot logbook and flight diary were found, the last total time listed for the pilot was in July 2011 and the last entry in the flight diary was in September 2016. Accordingly, the investigation was unable to determine the pilot’s currency or recent flight experience. The last condition inspection of the powered parachute was completed in October 2015 and did not have a total time listed. The passerby who discovered the wreckage, and who knew the pilot, reported that the pilot performed his own maintenance. Due to the lack of records, the investigation was unable to determine the last time maintenance work was performed on the aircraft. The pilot’s autopsy identified evidence of cardiovascular disease, which is associated with increased risk of a sudden impairing or incapacitating cardiovascular event, such as arrhythmia, heart attack, chest pain, or stroke. There was no autopsy evidence that such an event occurred, although such an event does not leave reliable autopsy evidence if it occurs just before death. The pilot’s postmortem toxicological testing detected ethanol in blood but did not detect ethanol in urine or vitreous fluid. The results indicate that the detected ethanol was likely from postmortem sources rather than alcohol consumption.

NTSB coding

• Nose over/nose down · Landing-landing roll
• Loss of control in flight · Approach-VFR pattern base

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