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ERA15CA307

2015-07-25 · Trenton, South Carolina, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 6J6

Current FAA registration · N371P

Make / Model
JOHNNY F ANDERSON BUCKEYE DREAM MACHIN
Year of manufacture
1998 · 17 years old at event
Engine
ROTAX 582SER (65 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20120407
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A438C7

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The non-certificated pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of directional control during takeoff, and collision with trees during the subsequent rejected takeoff.

Factual narrative

The non-certificated pilot reported that he was conducting a local flight from a grass runway. During the initial climb, the powered parachute started drifting to the right and the pilot was unable maintain control with the foot pedals. The pilot elected to land on the same runway, but during the landing roll, he was unable to stop the powered parachute before it departed the runway and collided with trees. The powered parachute sustained substantial damage to the airframe during the accident sequence. A post-accident inspection by the pilot revealed that a parachute cord was wrapped around the right foot control pedal steering rod nut, impeding its movement. The pilot stated that he must have overlooked this anomaly during his preflight inspection and that there were otherwise no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the powered parachute that would have precluded normal operation.  The non-certificated pilot reported that he was conducting a local flight from a grass runway. During the initial climb, the powered parachute started drifting to the right and the pilot was unable maintain control with the foot pedals. The pilot elected to land on the same runway, but during the landing roll, he was unable to stop the powered parachute before it departed the runway and collided with trees. The powered parachute sustained substantial damage to the airframe during the accident sequence. A post-accident inspection by the pilot revealed that a parachute cord was wrapped around the right foot control pedal steering rod nut, impeding its movement. The pilot stated that he must have overlooked this anomaly during his preflight inspection and that there were otherwise no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the powered parachute that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot - C
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Attain/maintain not possible

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_ERA15CA307.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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