Incident Overview
On Friday, April 29, 2005, at approximately 19:50 local time, a single-engine Piper PA-36-375 Brave with registration EC-DGI crashed in mountainous terrain near the El Muriano shooting range in Córdoba. The aircraft was operated by Trabajos Aéreos Espejo, S. L., and was engaged in a commercial general aviation flight as part of an empty repositioning mission.
Flight Details and Pilot Actions
The pilot, a 45-year-old commercial airplane pilot with 4,700 total flight hours and 1,700 type-rated hours, had completed fumigation work in Villanueva de Córdoba. While returning to the base at Córdoba Airport, the aircraft began losing altitude approximately 20 kilometers from the starting point. The pilot reported that the engine functioned correctly throughout the flight. After passing the Guadalmellato reservoir and entering mountainous terrain, the pilot increased power and adjusted the propeller pitch to minimum without recovering altitude. Consequently, the pilot executed a forced landing on a mountainside slope, deploying full flaps and cutting the master switch shortly before impact.
Investigation Findings
The aircraft sustained significant damage to the landing gear, wings, and fuselage, while the pilot remained uninjured. Due to difficult terrain, the pilot had to move to an area with cellular coverage to report the incident and was located in the early evening hours. A post-impact inspection of the Lycoming IO-720-D1CD engine found all components within established limits, requiring only standard overhaul parts replacement. No mechanical anomalies or malfunctions were identified that could explain the altitude loss.
Conclusion
The investigation concluded that no specific cause for the accident could be established, as no technical faults or operational errors were found to have contributed to the event.