History of the Flight
On 14 April 2018, the pilot of BRM Aero Bristell (registration 5B-HBI) filed a flight plan to depart Larnaca Airport at 08:30 UTC for a pleasure flight to the Limassol Training Area and return to Larnaca, with an estimated arrival of 10:30 UTC. After landing on Runway 22 at 12:35 local time, the pilot reported to Air Traffic Control that the aircraft was immobilized on the runway due to a flat nose wheel tyre. At 12:44 local time, the Airport Maintenance and Infrastructure Unit (AMIU) and an engineer from Airmotive attended the scene and towed the aircraft via taxiway BRAVO at 12:48 local time. The runway was closed for 25 minutes and returned to normal operations at 12:50 local time.
Aircraft Damage
Inspection revealed that the nose wheel axle was bent and the nose wheel tyre was deflated. These damages were the result of a heavy landing, which was not mentioned by the pilot in his report.
Personnel Information
The pilot of 5B-HBI was 72 years old and had logged 245 hours as pilot-in-command (PIC) out of 455 total flight hours. On 9 August 2016, the same pilot had a crash landing on Runway 22 in the same aircraft type, causing severe damage to the nose section. Following that accident, the AAIIB recommended that the pilot undergo further training on landing techniques before flying solo again. However, according to his personal flight log book, the recommended training was not undertaken.
Conclusions and Safety Recommendations
The investigation concluded that although the pilot had accumulated many flight hours, his experience did not reflect his handling of the aircraft, particularly during landings. It was noted that the pilot had not followed the previous recommendations from the AAIIB following the 2016 incident, and the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) was not monitoring the implementation of those recommendations.
As a safety recommendation, the AAIIB advised that before the pilot's next flight as PIC, he undergo further training followed by a skill test with an approved flight examiner.