Incident Details

Pilot had been flying for about 45 minutes and decided to make a low pass over the takeoff field while filming with camera. While descending downwind above the treeline near the end of the field, pilot applied power to start climbing. At that moment, a bolt on the exhaust sheared and shredded the drive belt, causing the engine to run free with no load. Pilot dropped the camera and attempted to kill the engine with the kill switch but it kept running. Pilot disregarded the engine and focused on landing. Having just flown over the field downwind, pilot made a gentle 180-degree right turn and landed in the field. Pilot lost balance on landing and went down on knees. It took a few seconds to exit harness and reach the choke to kill the engine. The entire incident was captured on video as the pilot was filming at the time.

Hardware failure - bolt on exhaust sheared, which then shredded the drive belt. This caused complete loss of power/thrust while engine continued running uncontrolled.

Age: 49, Weight: 145 lbs

I had been flying around the area for about 45 minutes and decided to make a low pass over the takeoff field while filming with my camera. I was descending downwind and still was above the treeline as I approached the end of the field. I applied power to start climbing and a bolt on the exhaust sheared and shredded the drive belt, which let the engine run free with no load on it. I dropped the camera and tried to kill the engine with the kill switch but it kept screaming. I disregarded the engine and switched my focus to the inevitable landing. Since I had just flown over the field(downwind), I made a gentle right hand turn 180 degrees and landed. I lost my balance on landing and went down on my knees. It took a few seconds to get out of my harness and reach the choke to kill the engine. Since I was filming at the time, I got the whole incident on video, although the camera is hanging by its tether after the belt broke.