Man had finger severed in Laois air accident near Portlaoise
A man had part of his finger severed by a propeller in a paramotor accident in Portlaoise.
The Air Accident Investigation Unit(AAIU) has released a final report into the accident at The Heath, Portlaoise on June 12, 2021.
“During an exercise intended to teach the paramotor student to kite and control a paramotor wing (canopy) above his head, the paramotor inadvertently became airborne,” the report noted.
“The student who was being supervised by an instructor, released the throttle instantly but did not use the ‘Kill switch/button’ to fully de-power the engine. On contacting the ground, the student fell over on his left side and his left hand made contact with the spinning propeller, injuring two of his fingers,” the report stated.
It said the 40-year-old student was taken to a hospital Emergency Department for immediate treatment and later underwent surgery at another hospital.
“The Student reported that his left index finger was amputated at the top joint and his left middle finger suffered a deep cut with tendon damage. On the evening of the accident, he attended a local hospital for an initial examination, and was then referred to a Dublin-based hospital for surgery on his injuries,” the report said.
The AAIU first learned of this event when a completed AAIU Report Form was received from the Instructor ten days after the accident.
“The instructor described the student as not being in ‘a fully stand up position upon landing’, and said that the Student rolled over on to his left hand side from the inertia. The Instructor reported that with the throttle still at approximately 30%, the Student’s hand contacted the spinning propeller, and the Student suffered injuries to the index and middle fingers of his left hand,” the report said.
Investigators asked what qualifications and approvals the Instructor held. The Instructor stated that he had “22 years paraglider and tandem pilot, 22 years paramotor pilot and over six years of paragliding and international paramotor competition flying. Over 1700 pilot hours in total. 400 hours paragliding, 1300+ hours paramotoring. Mentoring many PPG pilots over the last 16 years.”
The AAIU stated that weather is not considered to have been a factor in the accident.
“In relation to a declaration to the IAA(Irish Aviation Authority) regarding a Declared National PPG Flight Training Organisation, pursuant to IAA AN P.35, the Instructor stated that he was ‘working with the IAA to submit a new Declared Training Organisation [DTO] form, once it was available on their website.’ The IAA informed the Investigation that ‘The use of “application form” in AN P.35 is incorrect, as there is no such application form in use. A declaration is made for the activities intended," the AAIU report said in its comments.
“The IAA stated that this will be corrected in the next revision of AN P.35. However, the Investigation notes that AN P.35 references to an application form may have caused some confusion for the Instructor regarding the submission of a declaration,” the AAIU report noted.
The full report is available here: http://www.aaiu.ie/sites/default/files/report-attachments/Report%202023-006_0.pdf