What happened
On 22 May 2022, a Safari GT BI 582 ES flex-wing microlight, registration 63GB, was conducting a local instruction flight from Le Puy-Loudès aerodrome. The crew, consisting of an instructor and a student-pilot, departed from runway 33L at approximately 08:48.
About ten minutes into the flight, the student-pilot reported via radio that the aircraft was transitioning from the right-hand downwind leg to the base leg for runway 15R. Witnesses near the aerodrome observed the microlight flying at a very low altitude, passing between the model aircraft area and the unpaved runway. The aircraft then flew over a parking area at a low height, disappearing below the perimeter bank. Shortly thereafter, a loud impact was heard, and the aircraft was found to have struck an intercommunal storage hangar.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the flight path, the mechanical condition of the aircraft, and the medical status of the occupants. Examination of the wreckage showed the trike and wing struck the wall and roof of the hangar, respectively. The impact was violent enough to cause parts of the mast base to detach and the front/rear tautening cables to break.
Technical inspections of the 63GB engine, including borescope inspections of the cylinders and testing of the ignition and carburetors, revealed no mechanical anomalies or power loss. A fractured screw found near the site was determined to have failed due to the sudden overload caused by the impact with the building.
Findings
- The investigation could not definitively establish the specific flight path that led to the collision.
- Both the instructor and the student-pilot were found to have advanced cardiovascular pathologies.
- The instructor had a history of dilated cardiopathy and ischaemic lesions, and toxicology revealed the presence of anti-arrhythmic medication, which carries a risk of sudden incapacitation through muscle weakness or convulsions.
- The student-pilot also suffered from advanced cardiovascular disease and obesity, which are significant risk factors for in-flight medical emergencies.
- The physiological stress of flight may have contributed to the onset of an incapacitating medical event in one or both occupants.