What happened
On July 14, 2019, at Piotrków Trybunalski Airport (EPPT), skydiving and glider operations were underway. A pilot flying a Tecnam P2008-JC, registration SP-DME, was operating a flight from Łódź (EPLL) to Rudniki (EPRU), with a scheduled convoy at EPPT.
Upon arriving at the NOVEMBER waypoint of EPPT, the pilot reported intentions to the skydiving coordinator. While the coordinator provided arrival information, they failed to notify the pilot of the ongoing skydiving activities. The pilot of the Tecnam Planding entered the downwind for runway 03. During the descent, at approximately 300 ft AGL, the pilot observed an SC-7 Skyvan performing a backtrack on the asphalt runway instead of the expected grass runway. Due to this unexpected runway usage, the pilot decided to execute a missed approach.
Simultaneously, the crew of the Skyvan observed a skydiver descending directly into their flight path over the first section of runway 03. Noticing that the Tecnam crew had not yet reacted to the hazard, the Skyvan commander issued an urgent radio instruction for the Tecnam to turn right immediately to avoid the skydiver. Following this instruction, the pilot of the Tecnam P2008-JC performed a right turn, successfully clearing the skydiver and continuing the flight.
The investigation
The PKBWL investigation focused on the communication between the skydiving coordinator and the arriving aircraft, as well as the positioning of the skydiver relative to the active runway. The investigation examined the information provided to the pilot of SP-DME and the operational procedures in place for managing skydiving activities alongside fixed-wing traffic.
Findings
- The primary cause of the incident was the failure to communicate the ongoing skydiving activities to the crew of the arriving aircraft.
- A contributing factor was the position of the skydiver, who was located too close to the active runway and significantly east of the designated skydiving drop zone.
Safety action
- The investigation noted a recommendation to implement an Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS) at Piotrków Trybunalski Airport (EPPT), though this had not been implemented at the time of the final report.