BRS chute saved the day once more - Bruges, Belgium

[DIBO]

Dyn’Aéro MCR-01 Club pilot forced to use the BRS over the city of Bruges (BE)
https://www.ad.nl/videos/genre/sport...-belgie-315683
Some more post accident photos on https://www.aviation24.be/miscellane...ruges-belgium/

[ShyTorque]

Well he didn’t glide clear, did he?

[SignalSquare]

Blud Heck!

[Pilot DAR]

I'm not convinced that a BRS "saved the day" unless the airplane had become unflyable. Perhaps the pilot, instead could have glided it to a forced landing less risky to people and property on the ground? My preference will always be to maintain as much control of the airplane as possible, as long as possible, in the hope of causing the least risk to people on the ground. The regulations do say that a pilot shall not release things from an airplane which could create a risk to people on the group - personally, I interpret this to include the whole airplane!

[rnzoli]

Originally Posted by Pilot DAR

Perhaps the pilot, instead could have glided it to a forced landing less risky to people and property on the ground?

That's always a valid question, but this looks like a pretty much dense residential area, and he may have had to activate the BRS at around 500 ft AGL in order not to lose his insurance coverage, so if he pulled on minimum height, he simply had no choice remaining by that time.
https://goo.gl/maps/s7s8TDFQu34ivMzJ6

It's another valid, but even more difficult question to answer, what did he do over that residential area at such low height, that he had to pull the BRS handle eventually. This is the real mistake. While a slow descent under the chute may have reduced the risk of fatalities compared to a landing attempt on the road, on trees or someones backyard, this may not have saved him from getting a hetfy fine for violating some basic EASA rules that require aircraft on a safe height or above, where gliding to a suitable emergency landing area is possible. Having a BRS doesn't exempt from that, and if BRS is required at 500 ft AGL by manufacturer recommendation and insurance policy requirement, the pilot needs to factor this in, allowing the plane to glide to an emerency landing area at 500 ft AGL minimum, and then pulling the handle over that area. Not in the middle of a residential area.

[B2N2]

Beautiful day, very light airplane, this individual very likely flies only for recreation aka private pilot.
Lets not judge too harshly.
He walked away with a couple of scratches on his knees and very little collateral damage.
I’ll call that a save.

[212man]

Interesting that in Belgium there does not appear to be any published caveat for flying over congested areas, other than at a minimum of 1000 ft above the highest obstacle. Whereas, in The Netherlands they also say you should be able to carry out a forced landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the ground - i.e. fly higher than 1000 ft if necessary to allow gliding clear of built up areas. So, this guy could have been meeting the letter of the law, whilst (possibly) not showing great airmanship!

[Pilot DAR]

getting a hetfy fine for violating some basic EASA rules that require aircraft on a safe height or above, where gliding to a suitable emergency landing area is possible

Let alone the fine, the obligation is moral. If you would like to fly your plane, and possibly jettison it out of control into the sky, that's your business. However, you maintain a moral obligation to not endanger anyone else while doing this. if you would like to feel confident with a BRS system as a safety element of your flying, that's fine. But if the presence of that system, (and perhaps insurance considerations?) affects your decision making, and perhaps your choice to execute a decent forced landing, over an open area, you wisely selected for your route, that worries me!

[B2N2]

Alright I’m going to have to call foul on that one.
1. We don’t know the nature of the malfunction, could have been a severed elevator cable for all we know.
2. We don’t know the experience level of the individual.
3. The outcome of the parachute descent was likely more successful then an attempt at a glide to landing into a residential street would have ever been.

[B2N2]

Found some partial answers but my points above still stand.

1. According to various sources he was an instructor at the local club.
2. Canopy opened or partially broke off. May have triggered the parachute or made controlling difficult enough for the pilot to initiate it.
3. Try a glide with the canopy (partially) open and resulting turbulent airflow over the tail.
Good luck.

Source:
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/280419

[Pilot DAR]

The outcome of the parachute descent was likely more successful then an attempt at a glide to landing into a residential street would have ever been.

Probably. Should the airplane have been being flown over an area so unsuitable to receive a forced landing or uncontrolled descent? I'm fine with inexperienced pilots (if that was the situation) flying, and choosing to add a layer of safety with a BRS, it's where the arrival occurred which I have difficulty with. The pilot can choose the locale of the flight - that appears to have been a poor choice.

I deliberately avoid overflight of built up areas. The one Toronto area airport I occasionally visit un-nerves me, as the development around that airport has removed nearly all of the suitable open areas for an off airport landing. I choose not to transit across Toronto at all - 'just nowhere to go if it quits. Controlled airspace makes higher crossing impossible, so I go around. Maybe I splash, maybe I buy a row of corn, but a city street is that last place I want to be seeing one very short final!

[B2N2]

What does an open or damaged canopy do to your glide ratio?
Plan at FL150?

[Maoraigh1]

How does the canopy open? What is the VFR height limit due to controlled airspace there? Was he climbing from or descending to an airfield?

[DIBO]

The pilot is a FI/FE for ULM category, author of a couple of training manuals and safety related publication, winner of the Dutch 2009 'General Aviation Safety Award', 1200+hrs ULM.
He was flying below Ostend (EBOS) TMA starting at 1500 MSL. At the time of the mishap, he was ~5 miles out from nearest airfield (ULM-only grass strip), but no info on whether this airfield was part of the routing.
As can be seen in the video-clip, the BRS did not deploy 100% correctly as one of the chute's lines got stuck in the T-tail.