What appears to be the first in-service crash of a Cessna C162 Skycatcher - the company's new light sport entrant - will likely be ruled as pilot error.
A recently issued US National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report on the non-fatal 1 August crash in Rawlings, Wyoming, revealed that the pilot was attempting to depart an airport in unfavourable conditions - a quartering tailwind and density altitude 1,000ft (305m) higher than the 100hp (74kW) Teledyne Continental O200D-powered two-seater's 8,000ft maximum recommended takeoff altitude limit.
The aircraft failed to maintain lift and came to rest inverted past the end of the runway.
Though the C162 appears damaged in pictures provided by the US Federal Aviation Administration, neither the pilot nor his passenger were injured.
The two were returning home to Sacramento, California, after a trip to the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
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Cessna has delivered more than 100 Skycatchers to date since the aircraft gained American Society for Testing and Materials compliance in July 2009.
Test pilots were involved in two spin-related crashes of the C162 in development, but design changes were put into place to eliminate the problem.
Source: Flight International
