Incident Overview
On July 23, 2020, at 19:45 local time, a 58-year-old student pilot departed from the Gostkowo airstrip in an Aeroprakt A22 (registration SP-SAMA) for a solo cross-country flight. The flight was part of training task AIII/6 for the UACP qualification. The planned duration was 37 minutes.
Loss of Orientation
During the final leg of the route, the pilot lost geographic orientation and was unable to recover it. While flying with an incorrect heading for an extended period, he ended up approximately 80 km from the destination airport, near Iława. As dusk approached, the pilot decided to perform a precautionary landing in unprepared terrain about 8 km south of Iława.
Response and Search
The instructor, expecting the student to check in approximately 10 minutes after the last position report, began calling but could not establish communication. The instructor then took off in another aircraft to attempt air-to-air communication. Contact was very weak and eventually lost. The instructor notified Gdańsk FIS, triggering a search-and-rescue operation. The operation was suspended around 21:30 after a phone call confirmed the flight had ended safely.
Pilot's Account
According to the student pilot, he did not maintain radio communication with air traffic services and did not have a mobile phone with him.
Findings and Cause
The Polish State Commission on Aircraft Accident Investigation determined that the incident was caused by loss of geographic orientation during cross-country flight due to improper flight preparation and navigation errors.
Preventive Actions
The training organization's head of training conducted additional instruction with the pilot on cross-country flight procedures, VFR navigation techniques, and actions to take in case of loss of geographic orientation.