First-Ever "Save" At An Airshow; Ultralight Pilot Deploys At Sun 'N Fun
During the massive Sun 'n Fun airshow that opens the flying season for
aviation
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Ken
Mercer stands in front of his Mitchell Wing A-10 ultralight with
manufacturer Larry Smith of AmeriPlanes, Inc.
Mercer holds in his hand the safety pin that secures the BRS firing
handle when not flying. |
enthusiasts, Ken Mercer experienced a control failure in his
Mitchell Wing A-I0 ultralight and had to deploy his BRS parachute. "It
worked very quickly," indicated Mercer in a post-incident interview, a
good thing since he pulled the activating handle at only 100-150 feet off
the ground. The first-ever save at an airshow was # 123 for the BRS
company, a figure representing the number of human lives saved by the
appropriate emergency use of a parachute. (Three more deployments were
reported since Mercer's incident.)
Mercer was flying for the factory in an aircraft acquired by
manufacturer AmeriPlanes Inc when they purchased the company two years
ago. The parachute had been installed by the builder of the plane.
What Mercer and the factory people did not know was that a weld
attaching the pilot joystick to the controls was defective. Over a period
of time, the weld evidently weakened. When Mercer acted normally to bring
down a lifting wing, the joystick "went soft" in his hands and failed to
control the aircraft. The weld had failed and the pilot found himself
holding the vital control stick in his hand. The aircraft design is not
suspected in the incident nor is the pilot. "This was clearly a mechanical
failure," said BRS engineer, Jeff Peltier.
An active parachute sky diver as well as an experienced pilot, Mercer
remained cool and calm. Following BRS factory advice, he shut down his
rear-mounted engine (to avoid conflict with a spinning propeller), waited
briefly until the prop quit windmilling, and then pulled the activating
handle which fires the solid-fuel extraction motor. The motor is similar
to those used on fighter pilot ejection seats.
The BRS system employs a fast-opening parachute pulled from its mount
location by the rocket motor which offers extremely fast removal. While
personnel parachutes (worn by the pilot) require a minimum of 800-1,000
feet for full deployment, Mercer was able to deploy at less than 150 feet
and survive without injury.
Since the early 1980s BRS has delivered nearly 15,000 parachute systems
to owners of ultralight, microlight, kit-built, and general aviation
aircraft. Actual uses of the system is credited with saving the lives of
126 persons. BRS is a publicly-traded company based in South St Paul,
Minnesota (computer searches: use the stock symbol "BRSI").
The above can be found at:
http://airsports.fai.org/jul99/jul99nws.html |
