Unstable Approach and Nose Gear Failure at Arcachon La-Teste-de-Buch (F-GCHB)

Incident Overview On October 12, 2014, at approximately 10:15 local time, a Reims-Cessna F152 registered F-GCHB, operated by a club, experienced an accident at Arcachon La-Teste-de-Buch aerodrome (33) in France. The aircraft was on a local general aviation flight with a pilot and one passenger aboard. The incident resulted in a broken nose gear and a damaged propeller. ## Flight Sequence The pilot departed from paved runway 25 for a local flight to the Arcachon Basin. On return, the pilot made a long final approach to unpaved runway 25. During landing, the aircraft bounced. On the second ground contact, the nose gear touched down first and broke. The aircraft then nosed down, traveled about fifteen meters, and came to rest on the runway. ## Environmental and Operational Factors Estimated weather at the accident site included wind from 170° at 10 kt with gusts to 20 kt, CAVOK conditions, and a temperature of 19 °C. Météo France TAFs for Cazaux and Bordeaux forecast winds that could reach 15 kt with gusts to 25 kt. The aerodrome is surrounded by pine forests, and the unpaved runway is located south of the paved runway, about one hundred meters from the forest edge. Several glider club pilots noted that southerly winds generate downdrafts near the threshold of unpaved runway 25. The pilot held a PPL(A) license from 1983 and an FI qualification from 2001, with approximately 2,500 total flight hours, including 1,000 hours on Cessna and 1,430 hours as an instructor. The pilot stated that available weather information was not consulted before the flight, relying instead on AFIS information before departure that indicated a fairly weak southerly wind. During the flight, the pilot observed increasing wind and contacted AFIS, which reported runway 25 in use with wind from 210° at 15 kt, gusting to 23 kt. The pilot chose the unpaved runway, believing grass taxiing would be easier with the reported crosswind. The pilot increased speed by 5 kt and set flaps from 10° to 20°. In short final, the pilot felt the aircraft was pinned to the ground. The main gear touched before the runway threshold, the aircraft bounced, and then touched down again in a nose-down attitude. The pilot stated there was no time to abort the landing after main gear contact. The Reims-Cessna F152 flight manual states a demonstrated crosswind landing limit of 12 kt and advises using minimum flaps when crosswind landing conditions are required, depending on runway length. ## Findings The pilot’s incomplete flight preparation did not allow anticipation of the turbulence encountered on return, preventing adaptation of the flight plan. The turbulence led to an unstable approach in short final. Under these conditions, the pilot was unable to regain trajectory control quickly enough, resulting in a hard ground contact and nose gear failure. The chosen flap configuration may have contributed to the difficulty in control.