NOT Good: Powered Parachute Flight Impacted Among Spectators on Ground During "Candy Drop"

One of the first things that is drilled into pilots about operations near ANY assemblage of people is to NOT operate the aircraft in such a way as to potentially hazard anyone on the ground. Unfortunately; one PPC operator did not (apparently) heed that missive and sport aviation got a heck of a black eye when a "candy drop" resulted in the aircraft's going down into a local celebration and hurting a half dozen spectators. Two of those on the ground sustained SERIOUS injuries as a result, and four more were slightly injured. The FAA is going to have an interesting time dealing with this one. Herewith, the NTSB Prelim...

NTSB Identification: WPR09LA442
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, September 07, 2009 in Hooper, UT
Aircraft: Six Chuter SR 7, registration: NONE
Injuries: 2 Serious, 6 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On September 7, 2009, about 1510 mountain daylight time, an experimental Six Chuter SR7 unregistered aircraft was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain while maneuvering near Hooper, Utah. The aircraft was owned and operated by the non certificated pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The pilot and his passenger sustained minor injuries. Two people located on the ground sustained serious injuries and four people located on the ground sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight. The local flight originated from a field adjacent to the accident site about 10 minutes prior to the accident.

Information provided by local law enforcement revealed that the pilot and passenger were conducting a flight over the Hooper Tomato Days annual event to throw candy to a crowd of spectators. The pilot reported that while flying on a westerly heading, he passed over a set of power lines and the passenger "started dumping candy." The pilot stated that he "lost lift" and "could not recover." Subsequently, the aircraft impacted terrain within the crowd of spectators and rolled over.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov