What happened
On December 19, 2014, a PA28-181, registration F-OGHZ, departed Pointe-à-Pitre le Raizet in Guadeloupe for a VFR flight to Martinique Aimé Césaire. The aircraft was carrying the pilot and one passenger.
During the flight, the pilot reported descending to 2,000 ft due to increasing cloud cover. By 17:34, the aircraft had descended to 1,000 ft. Seeking guidance on a route to reach the destination, the pilot consulted air traffic control, who relayed information from a commercial flight indicating that the coastline remained clear despite clouds to the west of Martinique. The pilot subsequently requested a heading toward the northwest.
At 17:46, the controller asked if the pilot was qualified for night VFR; the pilot confirmed he was. However, radar tracking ceased at 17:48, and the controller received no response to a subsequent radio call at 17:49. The aircraft subsequently struck the water. Search and rescue operations recovered the pilot's body and various debris, but the aircraft itself was destroyed.
The investigation
The BEA investigation examined the pilot's experience, the aircraft's equipment, and the prevailing meteorological conditions. The pilot was relatively inexperienced, having held a PPL(A) since June 2014 with only 12 hours of command experience. While he was undergoing training for night VFR and utilized advanced navigation tools, including a tablet with GNSS and weather applications, he was not yet fully qualified for night operations.
Meteorological analysis showed that while the departure from Guadeloupe featured good visibility, significant convective activity and rain cells were moving through the area. Radar imagery indicated an intense rain cell over northern Martinique at the time of the accident. The investigation also noted that the pilot had established a late departure deadline with his instructor to account for weather, but the actual takeoff occurred an hour after that deadline, making an arrival before nightfall impossible.
Findings
- The primary cause of the water impact was the decision to undertake and continue a VFR flight under degraded meteorological conditions and low twilight.
- The pilot's desire to reach his destination to meet family members influenced the decision to proceed.
- The pilot's lack of experience led to an overconfidence in his ability to navigate through reduced visibility.
- The use of digital navigation tools may have contributed to an overestimation of the ability to maintain visual flight rules in such environments.