Human factors

Sunday 5th June, I was going to Ærø. I looked so much forward to have a relaxing day on the island, go for a swim, bike around, enjoy my freedom. It was a very nice morning, warm and sunny.

Preparing my Aeroprakt, I went through the check list, and removed the elevator lock pin. The engine was warming up, and I slowly moved towards the runway. The elevator was moving a bit in that very little wind we had that day – I thought it was irritating (was I tired? stress?), and I locked the elevator, thinking I’d unlock it before taxiing.

Waiting for the engine to get ready, I took a selfie – I was going to test my new aviation sunglasses. I don’t like the frame design, and I find them too dark, but pilots who use them told me the comfort inflight was worth the money.

If only I knew what was going to happen next… I forgot to unlock the elevator.

I lined up on runway 28, and gave full throttle. My first thought was “why does it take so long time to get into the air?” The next moment my aircraft was lifted up vertically and I understood what was wrong. I took gas off in a smooth movement, OY-9797 fell down softly, jumped up high (or so it felt), and immediately went nose-down into the earth…

I got out quickly, and was standing there shaken, with only one thought “how could that happen to me?!” After taking everything out from the aircraft, I called several people. Lars was the first one to answer the phone, he made sure I was ok, and came fast. By that time, Niels was also there, and we dragged my OY-9797 to the hangar.

After removing the cowling, we inspected what we could.

There were small things here and there (that would require many hours of work), but the engine seemed to be fine.

Lars and I drained the fuel tanks, and Lars did everything to keep the spirit high. He had brought lunch, and stayed with me till late afternoon, talking and making sure I’m ok. It was first when he left that I realised it was therapy he did for me.

I called Flemming, told him about my incident and asked whether I could come over. I was of course welcome. I really needed to be with someone who could support me. Fighting the shock with a glass of wine, and hiding pain and tears behind a smile:

The day after, Simba from Danaero called me. Together with Steen, based on what I had described, they already had a plan. A couple of days later, we met in the hangar, and they did a thorough inspection of the damaged OY-9797. They spent that evening with me in my flying club, having dinner and talking – that was extremely helpful. As a next step, Steen and Simba were going to find out where my Aeroprakt can be repaired, ensurance, etc.

Later, several pilots reached out to me, even those I had never met in person. They told me about their incidents (if they had any), expressed their happiness about me being unhurt, and invited for a flight – whenever I’m ready. I was really touched by their kindness, and grateful I had all those people around me.