Incident Details

Tim Williams was an experienced veteran pilot flying a Retracta trike on a demo Luna 3 20m wing - his FIRST FLIGHT on this glider model. After taking off, he quickly began low-altitude slalom turns under 100ft to feel out the wing's response. He then climbed to ~500ft and performed a set of wingovers, getting the wing below horizon. Staying relatively close to launch area (one field away), he climbed back to ~500ft for another set of wingovers, this time using tip steering toggles held together with brake toggles (two fingers on throttle, two on toggle, two through tip). After executing about two aggressive wingovers with heavy throttle, he transitioned into a RIGHT barrel roll at approximately 200-250ft altitude. While INVERTED in the right barrel roll, the LEFT (outside) side of the wing took a small collapse due to insufficient outside brake pressure. The collapse reinflated extremely rapidly and violently jerked the left toggle completely out of his hand. Without the left toggle to stop the rotation, the glider continued the right-hand spiral turn. He was approximately one rotation away from ground impact. 360-degree video footage captured the entire sequence. Tim was seen looking to retrieve the toggle but insufficient altitude remained. Complete catastrophic damage to airframe, trike and motor. Wing landed leading-edge first with quarter-sized hole and 3" tear in inner rib fabric. Reserve parachute equipped but not deployed - insufficient time/altitude.

Primary causes: 1) Performing aggressive acrobatic maneuvers (wingovers and barrel roll) at critically low altitude (200-250ft) on first flight with unfamiliar wing, 2) Insufficient outside (left) brake pressure during right barrel roll causing outside wing collapse while inverted, 3) Loss of left toggle when violent collapse reinflation jerked it from grip, 4) Insufficient altitude for toggle recovery or reserve deployment. Contributing factors: Possible limitation of outside brake authority due to holding short tip steering toggle together with main brake toggle - tip line length may have prevented full main brake deflection needed for outside pressure in aggressive maneuvers. Progressive escalation from low slalom turns to 500ft wingovers to low-altitude barrel roll. Heavy throttle use during maneuvers adding energy.

Fatal - died from impact with ground

Male, veteran, several hundred hours (very current - many hours in last year), had prior injury preventing foot launching but had just completed first foot launch flight before this incident. Experienced in trike acrobatics on Retracta unit

3.1 m/s

Moderate wind 5-9 mph, steady/laminar

Morning flight conditions, steady laminar wind 5-9 mph

Morning conditions, no significant thermal activity noted

Original incident report: [Previous report details about morning refueling flight, extensive briefing on Luna 3 handling differences, riser topography including tip steering toggles] --- YouTube Video Analysis by Tucker Gott (Sept 17, 2025): "My Thoughts On The Recent Paramotor Fatality..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNS24RgPqb4 Tucker Gott received 360-degree footage of the incident (not published per family request) and provided detailed analysis. Key points: - Incident occurred at Dave Purdan's Paramotor fly-in - Pilot: Tim Williams, veteran with several hundred hours (very current - many hours in last year) - Tim had injury preventing foot launching but had just completed his first foot launch flight before this - Flying Retracta trike on FIRST FLIGHT with demo Luna 3 glider - NO equipment failure - not fault of trike or Luna 3 - Misinformation circulated about speed bar/strap caught in propeller - definitively NOT a factor Sequence of events from 360 video: 1. Smooth takeoff, immediately began low slalom turns under 100ft feeling out glider response 2. Climbed to ~500ft, performed set of wingovers getting wing below horizon 3. One field from LZ, climbed back to ~500ft for more wingovers 4. Grabbed tip steering toggles in fingers (configuration: 2 fingers throttle, 2 on toggle, 2 through tip) 5. Executed ~2 aggressive wingovers with heavy throttle 6. Transitioned to RIGHT barrel roll at ~200-250ft altitude 7. While INVERTED in barrel roll, LEFT (outside) wing took small collapse 8. Collapse reinflated extremely rapidly, jerking left toggle out of hand 9. Without left toggle, couldn't stop right rotation 10. Approximately one rotation from ground when impact occurred 11. Video shows Tim looking to recover toggle but insufficient time/altitude Three main mistakes identified: 1. **Low acro** - Aggressive maneuvers (wingovers/barrel rolls) at insufficient altitude, especially on unfamiliar glider. Now believed to be leading cause of paramotor fatalities (surpassing water drowning). 2. **Taking outside collapse in barrel roll** - Insufficient outside (left) brake pressure during right barrel roll caused negative angle of attack on outside wing leading to collapse. Proper technique requires holding outside brake pressure during big maneuvers to maintain proper angle of attack. Tucker noted possible contributing factor: holding tip steering toggle together with brake toggle may limit outside brake authority because tip line is much shorter than main brake line, creating a "stop" that prevents engaging full trailing edge deflection when needed most. 3. **Dropping toggle** - Violent reinflation jerked toggle from grip. Discussion of grip techniques (Tim used 2 fingers on toggle) and toggle size considerations. Larger toggles easier to grab/maintain grip vs. finger toggles offering better feel but smaller target. **Swiss Cheese Model**: If ANY ONE factor was different, Tim would have survived: - Higher altitude + collapse + dropped toggle = time to recover - Low altitude + no collapse = no toggle drop, normal flight - Low altitude + collapse + maintained grip = stop rotation, fly away Video includes flight demonstration recreating the sequence: right wingover, left wingover, right barrel roll, (simulated) collapse/drop toggle, continuation of right turn into dive where ground impact occurred. Tucker emphasizes importance of learning from incidents through video analysis (flying with GoPro as "black box") and studying accident reports (references his childhood studying NTSB reports with grandfather, reading all 500+ BASE Fatality List entries). Family granted permission for Tucker to publish analysis publicly. Rest in peace Tim Williams, thank you for your service.