History of the Flight
On 14 March 2020, a Piper PA-28-181 (registration F-GSEV) was conducting a BIA introductory flight from Bordeaux Yvrac aerodrome (Gironde). The pilot, aged 74, had already completed four previous flights that day: one introductory flight in the PA-28 and three BIA introductory flights in a Cessna 172, totaling 1 hour and 54 minutes. The accident flight began at approximately 15:40 with one pilot and three passengers.
During the return, the pilot entered the right-hand circuit for runway 29, following a C172 that was landing. On final approach, the PA-28 was offset to the right of the runway centerline. The leading edge of the right wing struck a tree about 12 m tall, located approximately 200 m from the threshold and 75 m to the right of the centerline. The aircraft became difficult to control; the pilot performed a forced landing in an uncultivated field. During the landing, the nose gear and left main landing gear failed, and the aircraft struck vegetation, a fence, and a wall. The aircraft was substantially damaged.
Pilot Information
The pilot held a private pilot license issued in December 1985 and had been authorized by the flying club to perform introductory flights since 2004. Before the day's flights, he had logged 1,444 total flight hours, with 276 hours on the PA-28 (including 8 hours 27 minutes in the last 12 months). His last PA-28 flight prior to the accident was on 18 December 2019. In the past year, he had flown 56 hours, mainly in C172, C152, and PA-28. His last flight with an instructor was on 10 September 2018 for SEP rating renewal.
On the accident day, he performed flights in the sequence: PA-28 (33 min), C172 (three BIA flights totaling 1 hour 21 min), then again the PA-28 for the accident flight. He reported eating between the first and second flights. He stated that on short final, his attention was on the C172 moving up the runway and taxiway; he did not remember hearing the runway clear message, possibly drowned out by the tree impact. He was unaware of his deviation from the approach path and did not see obstacles. He did not feel tired.
Aerodrome and Weather
Bordeaux Yvrac is an uncontrolled aerodrome with a single unpaved runway 11/29 (685 x 50 m). At the time, Météo-France estimated westerly wind 6 to 8 kt gusting 12 to 14 kt, visibility >10 km, few clouds at 4,000-5,000 ft, temperature 14°C.
Statements
The C172 pilot (also the club's safety officer) reported that after landing on runway 29, he made a U-turn and backtracked to taxiway B to clear quickly. He estimated F-GSEV was on final at over 300 ft when he cleared the runway. He announced clearance over the frequency and stated the PA-28 pilot acknowledged. After that, the C172's upper wing obscured his view of the PA-28.
Two of the three college students (passengers) were on their first light aircraft flight; the third had flown before. None noticed any path deviation. They described a calm cabin with the pilot focused.
Contributing Factors
The BEA investigation concluded that the accident occurred due to the non-detection of an obstacle by the pilot while the aeroplane was not on the final approach path. Contributing factors identified include the pilot's attention being focused on the preceding C172, insufficient stimulus from the radio call to refocus, and potential hypovigilance from fatigue, age, and post-meal digestion, though the pilot did not feel tired.