Zlin 242L
A final report on the fatal crash of a Zlin 242L at Tolo Channel has been published by the Air Accident Investigation Authority.
The accident in February 2016 killed a Hong Kong Aviation Club instructor known as MT. He had been practising stalling or spinning over the sea in an area where aerobatics is allowed. A Club pilot said MT was under pressure. He had been failed by an examiner during a recent test flight for renewal of his instructor’s rating. The pilot said the examiner’s behaviour to MT had been unreasonable. MT may have decided to practise stalling or spinning solo before his next test with the examiner. He asked Air Traffic Control for permission to climb to a higher, safer altitude to do aerobatics. This was declined because of commercial traffic above.
It appears MT started his fatal aerobatics at too low a level. A Zlin 242L has short stubby wings. With every spin it can lose a lot of height. MT could not recover in time and hit the sea.
The AAIA report said, “The investigation identified that the pilot might have elected to practise stall recovery exercises in various flap configurations and power settings. It is possible that during one of the stall and recovery exercises with the aircraft in an approach or landing configuration the aircraft entered an inadvertent spin that progressed to a fully developed spin from which the pilot was unable to recover.”
Some aerobatic aircraft are slippery. If a fixed-wing flips into a spin, the pilot must put in exactly the right control inputs in the right order to arrest the spin. Power off. Control column fully forward, centered, to break the stall. Rudder applied in the opposite direction of the spin. This is while the world is whirling around below you. It looks like you are in a washing machine.
The Aviation Club went off to the Czechoslovakian factory and bought a second Zlin 242L. This, too, was pranged in May 2018. A 23-year-old pilot with only about 100 hours of experience — the dangerous stage when new flyers think they know it all, especially if they are the over-confident type — attempted aerobatics. He lost control and spun into trees on a hillside. The young fellow was incredibly lucky. The Zlin’s crash in the bushes was relatively soft. He walked away. When ambulancemen showed up, they strapped him into a stretcher and took him to hospital.
For now the Aviation Club has declined to buy any more aerobatic aircraft.
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