WPR14LA285 · Bailey-Moyes Microlights DRAGONFLY B MODEL

The pilot reported that, about 15 minutes after departure, he was maneuvering the experimental, light sport airplane to the destination airport. After he initiated a right turn, the airplane assumed a nose-low attitude with the right wing low. The pilot felt no feedback pressure on the control stick and determined that there was a flight control malfunction. The airplane continued to descend, so the pilot activated the onboard ballistic emergency parachute when the airplane was about 100 ft above the trees. The airplane subsequently collided with the trees and then came to rest inverted about 0.4 nautical mile from the airport.

Three years previously, the airplane had been involved in an accident with a different pilot, and the probable cause of that accident was the pilot's improper recovery from a dive that led to a loss of in-flight control. Following the accident, that pilot reported that he was aware that the airplane had a tendency to pitch down and accelerate when not monitored and controlled continuously. He stated that, although the control stick would move freely during a maneuver, he was unable to correct the flightpath with the elevator, which was consistent with this accident pilot's statement. According to two other pilots who encountered delayed controllability while operating the accident make and model airplane, adding engine power corrected the problem.

The airplane was disassembled for recovery purposes, which prevented investigators from determining its configuration before the accident. The examination of the disassembled flight control system revealed no evidence of any preimpact failures or malfunctions that would have affected normal operation of the flight controls. Further, because the pilot activated the parachute system, it could not be determined whether the flight control condition was temporary.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset