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ERA25LA089

2024-12-21 · Myakka City, Florida, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The non-certificated pilot’s improper decision to operate the powered parachute in close proximity to a fence, which resulted in a collision with the fence during takeoff. Also causal was the pilot’s decision to operate the powered parachute without having received any formal training.

Factual narrative

The non-certificated pilot of the unregistered powered parachute had no formal flight training, but had watched internet videos showing how it was operated. On the day of the accident, he departed from a baseball field and completed an uneventful first solo flight. His second flight was the accident flight. The pilot stated that as he started the takeoff roll for the flight, he realized that he was too close to a fence that surrounded the baseball field but decided to continue the takeoff anyway. As the takeoff continued, the pilot described that there was a gust of wind, and the powered parachute subsequently contacted the fence, seriously injuring the pilot. The powered parachute was not damaged. The pilot did not report that there were any preimpact 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.

  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Fence/fence post-Decision related to condition
  • — Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Training-Total instruct/training recvd-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ERA25LA089.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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