Piper PA28-181 F-GKEC accident at Lyon Bron

Flight and accident sequence On 2 August 2018, a Piper PA28-181 registered F-GKEC, operated by Aéroclub du Grand Lyon, departed Île d’Yeu around 17:00 local time for Lyon Bron with a pilot and one passenger aboard. The flight was the final leg of a multi-day trip that had begun at Lyon Bron on 1 August. During the approach, the pilot learned that the runway would be unavailable for about 30 minutes and stated she did not have enough fuel to wait. She declared a MAYDAY at 19:57, reporting fuel exhaustion and engine failure. The aircraft struck the wall of a warehouse and came to rest on its lower roof in an industrial area north of the airfield, 0.7 nautical miles from the threshold of runway 16. ## Aircraft condition and findings Examination confirmed the engine was not producing power at impact. The left wing was torn off during the initial collision with the warehouse wall. Both fuel tanks were ruptured, and no fuel odor was detected. The fuel selector was set to the right tank, and the fuel pump switch was ON. An “INOP” sticker was found on the left fuel gauge. The aircraft’s total time was 4,357 hours 54 minutes at the time of the accident. ## Pilot experience and planning The pilot held a PPL(A) license obtained in September 2016 and had about 157 total flight hours, including 92 as pilot-in-command. She was authorized to fly the PA28 on 8 July 2018 after an instructional flight. For the trip, she used the MACH7 application with an assumed fuel consumption of 37 liters per hour. She had refueled at Royan Médis on 1 August to full tanks, adding 100 liters, and planned to return directly to Lyon Bron the next day while retaining the regulatory 30-minute reserve. ## Weather and aircraft performance At the time of the accident, weather at Lyon Bron was CAVOK, with wind from 350° at 12 knots, temperature 33°C, dew point 16°C, and QNH 1017 hPa. The aircraft was equipped with a 180 hp Lycoming engine and a fixed-pitch Sensenich propeller. Its two wing tanks had a total capacity of 189 liters, with 182 liters usable. Performance data indicated theoretical fuel consumption of 34 liters per hour at 65% power and 40 liters per hour at 75% power.