Galway Bay fm newsroom – A report has found that sudden wind changes may have led to a micro-light aircraft hard-landing in Cregboy in August this year.
A factual study into the incident has been published by the Air Accident Investigation Unit.
The TL 3000 Sirius with the pilot and one passenger on board was returning to Cregboy from Letterkenny airfield on August 16th when the incident occurred.
During landing, the pilot reported the rate of descent had increased unexpectedly, resulting in a hard landing and bounce.
While there was extensive damage to the aircraft, there were no injuries.
The AAIU notes that while microlight aircraft have good lift and aerodynamic characteristics, they are low in mass and are more susceptible to sudden changes in wind direction and velocity.
The report notes that the crosswind would have been blowing in a nearby areas of bushes and trees and may have generated an area of turbulent air, including possible downdrafts, at the point over the runway where the pilot began to flare the aircraft for landing.
It is possible that this could have caused the sudden drop experienced by the pilot as he attempted to land.