At about 0715 eastern daylight time on 23 July 2011, a Moyes Dragonfly airplane, registration N402HA, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain at Ridgely Airpark, Ridgely, Maryland, US. The pilot was fatally injured. The aircraft was being operated on a glider-tow flight.
As the accident took place in the US, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was responsible for the investigation. As part of its investigation (reference ERA11FA413), the NTSB requested assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to gather information from the aircraft's manufacturer, who is based in Australia.
In accordance with clause 5.18 of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Annex 13), the ATSB appointed an accredited representative to assist the NTSB and initiated an investigation under the Australian Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003. In addition to obtaining the aircraft information for the NTSB investigation from the Australian manufacturer, the ATSB facilitated the development of safety action by the aircraft manufacturer and provided comments on the NTSB’s draft investigation report in accordance with clause 6.3 of Annex 13 in November 2012.
The NTSB is finalising its report and, when complete, this report will be available on the NTSB website at www.ntsb.gov.
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Released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003.