Date:	Sunday 14 May 2017
Time:	14:15 UTC
Type:	Pegasus Quik GT450
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	G-FLEX
MSN:	7953
Year of manufacture:	2003
Engine model:	Rotax 912 ULS
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Winscott Barton Farm, Bideford, Devon -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Winscott Barton Farm, Bideford, Devon
Destination airport:	Winscott Barton Farm, Bideford, Devon
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Pegasus Quik GT450 G-FLEX: Written off (damaged beyond repair) when flipped over on landing, due to turbulence, at Winscott Barton Farm, Bideford, Devon, on 14 May 2017. According to the following excerpt from the official AAIB report into the accident:

"The pilot was operating from his usual field at Winscott Barton Farm from where he had been flying for 13 years. There were no marked runways but he had taken off in the direction of about 270 degrees with a 13-knot headwind.

After a one-hour scenic flight, he returned to the field, and noticed that the wind sock was indicating about 240 degrees at 13 to 18 knots. On a final approach track of 270 degrees, at about 300 feet agl, the aircraft encountered “some noticeable turbulence” so the pilot decided to go around.

As he turned downwind, he noticed an alternative landing site in a nearby field, which had newly cut grass and was square, but it was smaller than desired with a passenger on-board, so he decided to make one more attempt at landing at his usual field, and to divert, if conditions were the same.

On this approach the pilot adjusted his angle slightly to be more into wind, about 260 degrees, and this time it felt smoother. As he flared at about 10 feet the aircraft was hit by what the pilot described as a “strong downward force” which caused the aircraft to pitch forward uncontrollably.

The nose wheel struck the ground and the aircraft flipped inverted onto its right wing, coming to rest within 15 metres. The pilot undid his lap strap and assisted his passenger with her harness and then both exited the aircraft.

=The pilot’s assessment of the cause=
The pilot stated that he had not encountered problems before in similar wind conditions. On this occasion he believes that a particularly strong gust from the south-west caused rotor from the brow of a hill where the field drops away quite steeply. The gust struck him at a critical point on landing which he did not believe was recoverable"

=Damage sustained to airframe=
Per the AAIB report, G-FLEX sustained "Damage to pod, nose wheel, right wing and propeller". The damage sustained was presumably enough to render the airframe as "damaged beyond economic repair", as the registration G-FLEX was cancelled by the CAA on 11 October 2017 as "Permanently withdrawn from use"

Pegasus Quik G-FLEX had previously been involved in a crash at Lower Boddington, Northamptonshire, on 11 June 2006 (see link #6 and separate ASN entry). On that occasion, the aircraft was repaired and returned to service.

Winscott Barton Farm is (or was) a grass airstrip in (or near) Winscott Barton, South of the A39 and South West of Bideford, Devon. The airstrip appears to have only been in use between 2004 and 2017, as the website of the farm no longer mentions it

1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/59e9f7d240f0b61ab035cb6e/Pegasus_Quik_G-FLEX_11-17.pdf
2. https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/two-injured-devon-microlight-plane-750362
3. http://www.winscottbarton.co.uk/
4. https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Winscott-Barton-Farm
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winscott,_St_Giles_in_the_Wood
6. Previous accident Lower Boddington, Northamptonshire 11 June 2006: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fb8b40f0b613460008dd/Pegasus_Quik_microlight__G-FLEX.pdf

This Pegasus Quik GT450 was built in 2003, and was first registered in the UK (from new) on 15 May 2003 as G-FLEX. Between May 2003 and 21 September 2009, the aircraft then went on to pass through the hands of five successive owners (two of them during 2009 alone). As at 1 June 2016, G-FLEX had accumulated a total of 1,020 flying hours on the airframe. G-FLEX had previously been involved in a crash at Lower Boddington, Northamptonshire, on 11 June 2006 (see link #6). On that occasion, the aircraft was repaired and returned to service.

After the incident at Winscott Barton on 14 May 2017, the damage sustained was presumably enough to render the airframe as "damaged beyond economic repair", as the registration G-FLEX was cancelled by the CAA on 11 October 2017 as "Permanently withdrawn from use

Ince Blundell Microlight Airfield, Merseyside, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK - 29th September 2007

Ince Blundell Microlight Airfield, Merseyside, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK - 29th September 2007

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Nov-2017 15:49	Dr. John Smith	Added
12-Nov-2017 15:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
19-Feb-2020 06:55	Peter Clarke	Updated [Photo]
19-Feb-2020 18:17	Peter Clarke	Updated [Photo]
25-May-2024 06:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category]