AN INVESTIGATION into a plane crash has found that a 79-year-old pilot was ‘seriously injured’ after he was thrown from his aircraft after accidentally hitting the throttle.

On August 16, 2023, a Magic Cyclone, G-KEVA, accelerated and hit a wire fence at Glassonby airfield, near Penrith, while preparing to take off.

The 79-year-old pilot, who had only flown the Magic Cyclone aircraft once before, was preparing for take-off when he shut down the engine to adjust a ‘camera mounted on the wing’.

As he climbed back into the cockpit, he likely knocked the hand throttle forward, according to an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report.

The report states that the throttle was mounted on the right side of the cockpit, unlike his previous aircraft, which had it on the left.

Upon restarting the engine, the aircraft immediately accelerated, “striking a wire fence and windsock tension cable at the side of the runway”.

The pilot, who holds a National Private Pilot’s Licence, was then thrown from the aircraft, 'sustaining serious injuries', and found trapped underneath it. 

“G-KEVA was a Single Seat Deregulated Aircraft. The pilot could recall little of the accident, but it is likely that he had not secured his harness before he started the engine. It is also likely that the aircraft suddenly accelerated across the ground as the throttle was open when the engine was started,” the AAIB report reads.

No other people were involved in the accident.