Pilot and passenger uninjured in forced Mayo aircraft landing

The Air Accident Investigation Union (AAIU) has published its final report on an incident involving a Comco Ikarus C42B, which occurred at Bartragh Island in north Mayo on January 3, 2021.

The aircraft, with the pilot and one passenger on board, was en route from Sligo Airport to Belmullet Aerodrome when it ran into difficulties.

The aircraft was overhead Bartragh Island, at an altitude estimated by the pilot to be six to seven hundred feet, when the engine cut out.

The pilot made one attempt to restart the engine without success, before carrying out a forced landing on a sandy beach on the south-western side of the island.

The nose landing gear and right main landing gear collapsed during the landing and detached before the aircraft came to rest.

The pilot and passenger were uninjured and exited the aircraft unaided. There was no fire.

The pilot informed the investigation that when he was south of Bartragh Island and heading west at an altitude of six to seven hundred feet, he attempted to increase the engine power to climb, but that the engine ‘chugged twice’ and cut out.

The pilot said that the carburettor heat had been 'on' approximately five minutes earlier, before being selected 'off' and he thought that he may have re-applied the carburettor heat just before he attempted to increase the engine power, but wasn’t sure.

He said he made one attempt to restart the engine, but that the engine did not start. He then selected a site at which to land.

He said he performed “a very tight right-hand turn to turn-back because otherwise I was going over water and cliffs" and that he also had to side-slip the aircraft and “forced it to get it down as soon as possible.”

The aircraft landed on a sandy beach on the south-western side of Bartragh Island in Killala Bay.

The nose landing gear and right main landing gear collapsed during the landing and detached before the aircraft came to rest in wet sand, as photographed.

The pilot and passenger were uninjured and exited the aircraft unaided.

The AAIU report said the probable cause was the aircraft’s engine cutting out at a low altitude, resulting in a forced landing during which the aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The report does not sustain any safety recommendations.