The pilot reported that, during takeoff at the airport in Gastonia, North Carolina, as the airplane departed the ground, the canopy opened. The Zenith 601XLB landed hard back on the runway and the nose landing gear collapsed.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.
The FAA inspector reported that, during a post-accident examination, the canopy latches appeared to be in good condition. He added that the canopy latch handle was located in the middle of the cockpit and operated fine.
The pilot added as a safety recommendation to double check the canopy latch.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to latch the canopy before departure, which resulted in the canopy opening and the subsequent loss of airplane control.
This October 2019 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Will this airplane fly with the canopy unlatched? Not being familiar with the plane, but my guess is it will by design.
This is clearly the pilots fault. As Douglas said, A,N,C.
Quit blaming others for your own decisions. If you are old enough to fly, then you are old enough to be accountable for your decisions
AVIAT, NAVIGATE, COMMUNICATE. Keep flying the airplane first, and remain very cool. Good Luck.
I have built the 601. the canopy is a KNOWN failure point — several fixes have been attempted by different builders. This is NOT the first time this has happened. I use THREE backup latches, but you still have to engage them.
Did the pilot forget to latch the canopy? Sure. But people are forgetful. They sometimes let their attention wander. They act on bad information. And sometimes they just make bad decisions. My hangar mate, 30 years old, with a baby at home, died of covid last week. He wasn’t anti-vax. He just didn’t pay attention, key into the risk, and get it done. If one designs an airplane that will crash when someone forgets to latch the canopy, it’s the designer’s fault when someone dies – not the pilot. That a pilot will forget one day is statistically inevitable. Similarly, those who design and distribute vaccine misinformation are responsible, in part, for the deaths of those who are fooled.
I’m sorry to hear about the passing of your friend – God Bless
In regards to the post… we are all human and imperfect but post these post help learn from others. Checklist checklist checklist
Sorry to hear about your hangar mate. Sadly there are far too many similar stories out there.
You make a compelling case for banning GA altogether since it’s risk inherent no matter what, and absolute government control over our existence.
Correct 😏
I don’t think so. It does not have to be so extreme. I’m a designer. As a designer, it’s incumbent on me to foresee the ways people are likely to misuse my products and to take reasonable steps to design around them. If I design a hairdryer, I know that it’s going to used in the bathroom. I should foresee that it’s possible it will come in contact with water, and I shouldn’t have to have the government require me to put a GFCI in it. But designers didn’t do it, and the government did step in. These types of canopies, IMO, represent a similar design flaw.
The other issue – putting out vaccine misinformation – often goes beyond negligence. It’s malicious, like screaming “fire” in a crowded movie theatre, and IMO, those who do it should be held similarly accountable.
There’s a reason suppositories have a remove from rigid knife sharp aluminum wrapper before inserting(bit of embellishment there for effect).
Here you’re dealing highly trained people that can’t even remember to put fuel in the plane, although they manage to fill up the car, even though it wasn’t part of driver’s ed.
Someone will always defeat the system.