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The pilot, who was the owner/builder of the experimental Zenith CH601, told investigators the accident occurred on just the second flight of the airplane.
During takeoff from the airport in Punta Gorda, Florida, about 20 feet above ground level, the cockpit canopy “flew” forward to the full up position.
The airplane immediately entered a nose-down attitude and touched back down on the runway with the propeller striking the runway. The airplane then bounced, touched down again, and skidded off the left side of the runway. The nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest upright in a grass area off the left side of the runway. The forward portion of the airplane’s fuselage was substantially damaged.
The pilot added that the canopy latch for the airplane was known to unlatch in flight, so he installed a secondary latch system when he assembled the airplane. The secondary latch system consisted of a latch and catch mechanism that could only be secured from inside the cockpit. He added that the latches had to align perfectly to work.
The pilot further noted that the kit manufacturer offered a modification to the canopy latching system, but he had not installed it.
Probable Cause: An inadvertent opening of the airplane’s canopy on takeoff, which resulted in a loss of control and runway excursion.
NTSB Identification: 101902
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This August 2020 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
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This is a problem with this design. Some builders place a strap to the back part of the canopy that will allow the pilot to pull the canopy back down.
This has happened a number of times recently with a tip-up canopy.
This pilot was lucky that he was 20 ft of the runway and didn’t get killed.!
Others had the same thing happen from 200-300 ft and it killed the pilot, with the severe nose down when the canopy blanks the elevator.
I would have expected the kit manufacturer to provide a latch that is secure in 3 dimensions, so if the canopy move wrt the latch, it is still secure.
Secondly, why not have spring loaded secondary latch, as on car hoods ?
Having another manually connected secondary can be missed , and not connected.
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