History of the Flight
On 24 June 2022, the aircraft operator, a private company, organized commercial tandem parachute jumps from the Aleksandrowice aerodrome (EPBA) in Bielsko-Biała. The Cessna TU206G, registration OK-ROY, was used to lift jumpers to an altitude of 3000 m AGL. The pilot arrived after the aircraft was taken out of the hangar and performed a pre-flight inspection, finding 50 l of fuel in the left tank and 30 l in the right tank. He then added 40 l of fuel to the left tank only, for a total of 120 l recorded in the technical log book (PDT) before the first take-off.
At 16:20 local time, the pilot made the first take-off with four jumpers on board. The flight completed without incident. After landing, the pilot taxied near the jumper pickup point and kept the engine running during the approximately 2-minute boarding. Two tandems (tandem pilots with passengers) and a single jumper boarded. The aircraft then taxied about 300 m to the threshold of Runway 09.
The second take-off began at 17:09 using the full length of the grass Runway 09. During the climb, at an altitude of about 20 m above ground, the engine stopped. The pilot transitioned to a gliding flight, turned approximately 40–45° left, and made an emergency landing on a small cultivated field adjacent to the airfield. The landing was very hard, with a short ground roll ending in a collision with a property fence, which broke the front landing gear and bent the propeller blades.
Injuries
All six occupants (the pilot and five jumpers) evacuated the aircraft, leaving via the passenger cabin, which was obscured by a blind during take-off. All suffered minor bruises. Witnesses called emergency services, and fire brigades, an ambulance, and police arrived at the scene.
Aircraft Damage
The aircraft sustained serious damage, including a broken front landing gear and bent propeller blades.
Cause
The investigation determined the cause of the accident was pilot error: taking off with an empty fuel tank. A contributing factor was the pilot's routine of not using a checklist before take-off.