Pilot ‘convinced he would die’ after microlight crash
Instructor Vincent Vaughan, 48, from Mullinahone, Co Tipperary, suffered a broken leg, while Gerard Murphy, 46, from Ballincollig, Co Cork, had more serious injuries in an accident that left the UK-registered Pegasus Quantum Microlite destroyed.
Mr Vaughan told air accident investigators that it was “to his surprise” that both he and the pilot survived the impact of the crash on Aug 9, 2011, at Ballyduggan, Co Tipperary. The pilots had left from Kilkenny airfield.
After the crash, a young boy “appeared through the bushes and confirmed the general location” to the instructor, who passed on the information to emergency services. He asked the boy to return to the road and direct the emergency services, which he did. He later returned with a man “who offered words of comfort” to both men.
During the flight, Mr Vaughan put his student through a series of exercises. The exercise that resulted in the crash — stall as a result of engine failure after take-off — ultimately resulted in the aircraft becoming inverted and going into a steep nose dive.
Investigators found the probable cause of the crash was “an aggressive lowering of the nose” during a stall exercise which caused the aircraft to partially invert and enter a nose dive.