Airborne REDBACK N528PG accident near Arlington, Washington

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to adequately secure the aircraft while manually starting the engine from outside the cockpit, which resulted in the unmanned aircraft becoming airborne and colliding with a hangar roof.

NTSB analysis

According to the pilot of the weight shift controlled trike, he had spent several hours trying to start the trike on the previous day without success. He recalled that on the morning of the accident, with the ignition off, he sprayed ether into each of the carburetors and pulled several times on the engine's starter cord. He reported that he then turned on the ignition, pulled the starter cord once, the engine started and the trike accelerated forward. He recalled that the trike rolled over the chalks that were in front of the wheels, drug him for about 100 feet before he released the cord, and the trike became airborne. The trike was airborne for several seconds before impacting the rooftop of a hangar and sustaining substantial damage to the wing keel and the control bar.

The pilot reported that there were not any pre-accident mechanical failures or anomalies with the trike that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident.

The pilot reported that in hind sight, he should have placed the hand throttle to idle before pulling the cord.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA16CA216 for the full record.