By Skies Magazine | November 25, 2019 Estimated reading time 1 minute, 28 seconds.
The Directorate of Flight Safety (DFS) has released its initial accident report concerning the Oct. 13 crash of a Snowbirds CT-114 Tutor aircraft just before the Atlanta Air Show in Hampton, Ga.
The Nov. 21 report is brief, but says that Snowbird 5 – piloted by Capt Kevin Domon-Grenier – was performing a routine pre-show check while inverted. After rolling level and applying full power to rejoin the formation, the aircraft experienced a loss of thrust, lost altitude and was unable to recover engine power.
Domon-Grenier decided to eject because the aircraft was too low to attempt a safe recovery to an airport. Although he successfully ejected and received only minor injuries, he later reported “anomalies with the ejection sequence” that are also being examined.
The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and the investigation continues into both the engine mechanical failure as well as the ejection sequence.
