Incident Overview
On Friday 22 July 2011 at 16:00 local time, a Pilatus Porter PC6-B2H2 registered F-GFFD, operated by Centre Ecole de Parachutisme, was involved in a hard landing at Nancy Azelot aerodrome (54). The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
Flight Details
The pilot departed with nine parachutists for a drop at an altitude of 4 000 m (approximately 13 000 ft). During the climb, the ground wind increased beyond the 11 m/s (20 kt) limit for parachutist landings. When the aircraft reached 6 500 ft, the technical director decided to cancel the drop and instructed the pilot by radio to stop the climb and land.
Approach and Landing
The pilot joined the aerodrome traffic pattern and positioned for a final approach to the unpaved runway 36. The aircraft touched down extremely hard at the runway entry, about 300 m before the displaced threshold. Witnesses on the ground reported that the final approach was flown very low with a shallow glide path.
Pilot Experience and Training
The pilot held a private pilot license with a total of 465 flight hours. He obtained the Pilatus PC6 type rating in April 2011 and the Déclaration de Niveau de Compétence (DNC) in May 2011. Since the type rating, he had logged about 60 hours as pilot-in-command on the PC6. The DNC includes training on at least one landing with all parachutists on board and theoretical instruction on the specifics of such landings (high weight, center of gravity, aircraft behavior). The pilot stated that this was his first landing with nine parachutists on board, and the aircraft was near its maximum allowable takeoff weight.
Meteorological and Aerodrome Conditions
Estimated weather on the aerodrome: visibility very good, wind from the northwest at 5 to 10 kt with gusts of 20 to 25 kt, temperature 15 °C. Runway 36 is unpaved, 980 m long, with a displaced threshold 350 m from the runway entry. The runway is downhill: the entry at 958 ft, the displaced threshold at 937 ft, and the runway end at 905 ft. The immediate surroundings of the aerodrome have no significant obstacles that could create local dangerous aerodynamic phenomena in strong winds.
Damage
The two wing struts, the right main landing gear, the turbine, and the engine mount were damaged.
Technical Examination
No technical problems that could have contributed to or explained the hard landing were found.
Conclusion
The hard landing resulted from inappropriate management of the final approach and flare. The pilot had not received proper instruction and had not been evaluated during his training for a landing at high weight.