The 2013 Eberswalde-Finow Zlin crash was an incident involving a Zlin Z 526 light aircraft which happened on 29 June 2013, during an unauthorized aerobatics display near Eberswalde Finow Airfield, Germany. The pilot was fatally injured.
Accident
The Roadrunner's Paradise Race 61, festival was taking place at the Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt, which is next to Eberswalde Finow Airfield It seems the crash pilot took it upon himself to embark on an aerobatics display in front of thousands of people gathered for the festival. The aircraft took off from runway 10 at Eberswalde Finow Airfield shortly after 12:04. After takeoff, the pilot flew to the festival site and then made several low passes from easterly and westerly directions. On the final pass, the aircraft was at very low altitude making an inverted pass from an easterly direction. During this manoeuvre, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to roll the aircraft upright, but the right wingtip tank collided with the ground. This reversed the roll and the aircraft crashed upside down. There was no fire except for a brief flash as the rightwing tip fuel tank was ruptured on initial impact. The pilot, the aircraft's sole occupant, was fatally injured in the crash which destroyed the aircraft. The aircraft crashed into the Solarpark Finow Tower destroying a number of solar panels. No one but the pilot was injured in the incident.
Aircraft
The Zlin 526 is a low wing single seat aerobatic aeroplane powered by a 180 hp Avia M 137 6-cylinder in-line engine. The crash aeroplane, serial number 1119, was made in 1967. It was bought by the German crash pilot in the Czech Republic on 29 March 2013. The fuel system of the Zlin is optimised for aerobatics. It consists of a fuel tank in each wing feeding by gravity a collector tank in the fuselage. A fuel pump draws fuel from the collector tank and supplies fuel - via filters - for the fuel injection pump, which in turn delivers fuel via separate lines to each of the engine's six cylinders. During inverted flight, the collector tank receives no fuel from the wing tanks, and a one-way check valve ensures the collector tank's fuel does not flow to the wing tanks. The accident aircraft was fitted with optional wing tip tanks. As of 24 November 2012 the aircraft had accumulated 3,284:19 operating hours and 18,243 flight cycles.
Investigation
The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation investigated the accident. They found that the aeroplane's first landing at Eberswalde Finow Airfield was on 15 April 2013. Up to the day of the crash - although not properly recorded - several flights had taken place in Germany and into Poland from Eberswalde Finow Airfield. The investigation revealed that on the day of the crash, the aircraft did not have a valid registration: the purchase contract required the aircraft to be promptly deleted from the Czech register. Furthermore, the liability insurance policy had ended on 1 May 2013. According to BFU, the 47 year old crash pilot held a valid Private Pilot's License and was rated as Pilot in Command for Single Engine Piston land. His license also had entries for aerobatics and night flight qualifications. The pilot had a valid class 2 medical certificate. The pilot had accumulated 3,127:55 hours and 10,445 flight cycles as per last logbook entry 13 October 2012. The investigation further found that:
the aerobatics display was performed without permission from the responsible authority
exemption for aerobatics below had not been granted
the inverted low pass was conducted at a height of and some in front of the spectators
the right wing tank was undamaged and contained a low amount of fuel. The left wing tank and both tip tanks were destroyed
the collector tank was undamaged and empty
only cylinder one's fuel injector line contained fuel, and only a small amount. The other five fuel injector lines were dry
the aircraft had been supplied with motor fuel and not Avgas as required
the engine was deemed in good technical condition
aircraft was not certified for aerobatics as wing tip tanks were installed
the pilot did not wear a parachute - instead, the seat had been filled with foam
it was determined that control input by the pilot resulted in the aircraft veering off to the right in a nose-down attitude of 5-20 degrees during the unsuccessful recovery
Causes
BFU concluded that engine performance was impaired due to lack of fuel during inverted flight. Subsequent errors in control inputs by the pilot during the roll back to normal flight attitude resulted in the collision with solar panels and subsequently the ground impact. They further stated that the pilot's decision to conduct aerobatics in close proximity to the ground contributed to the accident.
