Incident Details

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Landing

Hard landing after left brake release during landing

Incident Details

Wrong control input

High — very likely identified

Pilot was coming in for landing and noticed they were coming in harder and faster than normal. Looking up, they discovered that the left brake had come out of their hand (throttle was in this hand so couldn't tell by feel). Pilot reached up, grabbed the brake and attempted to flare. The flare was unsuccessful and the pilot hit the ground hard. Pilot was uncertain if trims were out during landing, but when wing was opened two months later, trims were not out.

Left brake released from pilot's hand during approach, likely due to holding throttle in same hand. Late discovery of brake loss resulted in insufficient time/altitude for proper flare execution.

Mostly correct inputs while reacting

Date & Location

March 27, 2018

Equipment

Footlaunch

Air Conception Nitro 200

Ozone

Buzz

MS

Pilot & Flight

Age: 50, Weight: 160 lbs

Contributing Factors

Low flight altitude

Links & Media

Coming in for landing. Seemed to be coming in harder and faster than normal. Looked up and noticed that left brake had come out of hand. (throttle was in this hand so I couldn't tell by feel). I reached up grabbed it and commenced a flare. Flare was unsuccessful and hit the ground hard. It's possible that my trims were out. This is what I recall, but when I opened up my wing two months later my trims were not out. Incident recorded on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKLXKWw6VY0

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