Ultralight crash outside Fredericton wasn't survivable, safety board finds

An ultralight aircraft that crashed last summer near Fredericton was destroyed when it hit the ground, and the impact was not survivable, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says.

The board has released the results of its investigation into the fatal crash, which happened in the rural community of Burtts Corner, about 20 kilometres west of Fredericton, on July 19, 2024. 

The pilot, Ray St-Laurent, was the only person on board and was found dead when first responders arrived.

The report says the aircraft had departed Weyman Airpark in Burtts Corner. 

After 45 minutes of flying, the plane was observed circling at a height of less than 1,000 feet, before nosing down and hitting the ground.

It crashed into the edge of a cornfield just behind a house along Highway 104.

Daphne Boothe, the lead Transportation Safety Board investigator on the crash, said the report was a limited scope investigation, meaning it does not have any analysis or findings attached to it.

But to help other pilots, the report does point out any safety concerns with the aircraft. In this case, a missing piece of hardware was identified, which could have caused difficultly controlling the aircraft.

Basic ultralights not regulated by Transport Canada 

The Earthstar Aircraft eGull, the type of aircraft St-Laurent was flying, is an electric-powered variant of the single-seater Thunder Gull aircraft.

The battery allowed for a typical flight time of 70 minutes, the report says.

St-Laurent built the aircraft over a year from a manufacturer kit he brought from Wisconsin.

The Earthstar Aircraft eGull is registered in Canada as a basic ultralight aircraft. It's used recreationally in Canada and operated without a certificate of airworthiness.

This means the design, construction and maintenance of basic ultralights is not overseen by Transport Canada, the report says. 

According to the report, an occupant of a basic ultralight must weat a protective helmet, and this pilot didn't wear one that day.

Missing nut could have caused difficulty

The wreckage of the plane was examined, and a piece of hardware — the nut matching a bolt — was missing at the attachment between the control column bellcrank ​and the lower end of the aileron push tube assembly. 

Boothe said that in the aircraft, there is a control column that is linked to the ailerons, which are found on the outer edges of the wings. These are connected by a nut and bolt, but the investigation found there was no sign those were connected at the time of impact.

This would have made it difficult for the pilot to control the aircraft, Boothe said.

Still, she said while this issue was identified through the investigation, a cause of the crash is not confirmed. 

"The intent of this report is to highlight any messages, safety message that we can identify, so that other pilots that do the same, that fly the same aircraft, or fly in that same category … are reminded that the aircraft that they build and maintain have to be maintained for safe flight."