Microlight-crash pilot drunk

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 6

Microlight-crash pilot drunk

PA ‘ Wellington A microlight pilot with a history of dangerous low flying was drunk when he crashed his plane and died, air accident investigators said in a report released yesterday. The report was also critical of how microlight pilots are supervised by the Civil Aviation authorities. The report said Kelven James Edwards, aged 38, of Maungatainoka, near Pahiatua, had been drinking heavily during the afternoon of December 27, 1988, and his

blood-alcohol level of 167mg/100 ml was more than twice the iegal limit for driving a car. Mr Edwards had previously been spoken to by the police about his low flying, but after drinking with friends he had taken off in his microlight and flown at rooftop height over neighbouring homes. The microlight had a history of engine failures, had a fuel system clogged with dust and was not rated for aerobatics, but witnesses said Mr Edwards had ignored the regulation minimum height of 500 ft

(152 m and performed low-level manoeuvres. In the final manoeuvre the microlight was seen to pull up to the vertical and then cartwheel over in what may have been a “wingover” or “stall turn”. The engine was heard to fail, and that would have reduced the height needed for recovery from the manoeuvre. But Mr Edwards made no attempt to recover and the aircraft dived vertically into the ground, killing him instantly.