SYNOPSIS
The Pilot had intended performing a flight to Sligo airport. He brought the aircraft out of his hangar to hand-start the engine by swinging the propeller. He set the throttle to ‘a higher than the usual setting’, and set the ignition switch to ‘ON’. There was no one aboard the aircraft, and the aircraft wheels had not been chocked. When the Pilot swung the propeller the engine started and the aircraft commenced moving across the airfield, where it impacted a boundary hedge and overturned. The aircraft came to rest inverted on an electric fence in a neighbouring field. A post impact fire occurred which destroyed the aircraft. There were no injuries.