Circumstances
The pilot planned a round trip from Albert to Dinard with a flyover of Mont-Saint-Michel, accompanied by three passengers. Departing at about 11:40, the pilot suspected an alternator failure during cruise and diverted to Caen, landing at 13:10. A mechanic checked the alternator and battery but found no anomaly.
Due to delay, the pilot decided to go to Granville instead of Dinard, joining downwind for runway 25. During landing, the pilot perceived an aircraft at the holding point as moving and pulled up, adding power, before realizing it was stationary and continuing the landing.
An instructor in the aircraft at the holding point observed the F-GSRI pass at high speed, touching down near the non-paved taxiway about mid-runway, followed by three or four rebounds. The instructor noted the aircraft pitched nose-down before the last rebound.
Granville aerodrome was operating under self-information at the time. Radio communications recorded the instructor at the holding point stating "We are at holding point 25 waiting for the aircraft to land," and the pilot taxiing back said "Hard landing to report." The instructor asked if everything was okay, and the pilot replied "No problem but the runway I saw longer" and the instructor noted "Yes, you came in slightly fast... all good?"
After a short pause, the pilot performed a pre-flight inspection, noticed nothing unusual, and departed for Albert. Upon arrival, while clearing the runway, the pilot had difficulty steering with the rudder pedals and while parking. The pilot called the club president by phone to report steering difficulties; the president thought it might be a nose gear locking issue and did not deem it necessary to have the aircraft checked by a mechanic.
Two days later, an instructor discovered nose gear damage during a pre-flight inspection. A mechanic subsequently found the nose gear destroyed and both main landing gears deformed.
Pilot Information
The pilot, aged 65, held a private pilot license since 2001, with about 340 total flight hours, including a 25-minute flight one month prior. On the accident day, the pilot flew 4 hours 37 minutes.
The aircraft's journey logbook did not include entries in the "observations" field, flight times, or aerodromes where the pilot landed. The pilot stated he did not know that multiple flights on the same day needed to be broken down and could not explain why flight time was not recorded. He did not consider noting the steering problem in the logbook, having notified the club president by phone.
The mechanic who checked the alternator at Caen noted he removed both engine cowlings but did not pay attention to the nose gear; a passenger photograph taken during the mechanic's intervention showed no visible nose gear damage.
Damage
The aircraft sustained substantial damage: the nose gear was destroyed and both main landing gears were deformed.
Conclusion
In short final, the pilot had a doubt about the intentions of the pilot of the aircraft at the holding point. He did not consider aborting the landing and his actions destabilized the approach, shifted the touchdown point and led to a long landing. The short distance from the end of the runway probably prompted him to hurry the landing, which resulted in the hard landing. The pilot's very low recent experience may have contributed to the accident.