History of the Flight
On 14 September 2022, the pilot of a Piper PA46-350P, registered N9190X, accompanied by the aircraft owner, conducted a private passenger transport flight for remuneration from Épinal-Mirecourt to Amiens-Glisy. There were one pilot and four passengers on board.
During the approach to Amiens, the pilot encountered stormy conditions with heavy showers that greatly limited visibility. Upon acquiring sight of the runway, the pilot observed that he was overflying the runway and did not have sufficient remaining runway for landing, so he aborted the approach. He then attempted two visual approaches to land.
Radar track data, statements, and air-to-air frequency recordings indicate that the pilot lost external visual references several times. The aircraft was flown below 1,000 ft on a path over Amiens that did not correspond to any published VFR or IFR procedure.
Final Approach
On the last approach, the pilot perceived only the PAPI lights and offset the aircraft to the right, believing the lights were installed on the left side of the runway. At low altitude, he saw the runway on his left and turned to align with the runway centerline. The aircraft stalled and touched down hard on the runway.
Damage
As a result of the hard landing, the aeroplane was damaged.