What happened
On February 17, 2014, a Wassmer CE43, registration F-BXCV, was performing a local flight departing from Vesoul aerodrome. After approximately fifty minutes of flight, the pilot transitioned to a downwind pattern for runway 08. During the base leg, the pilot deployed the landing gear and the first stage of flaps (1s°). As the aircraft entered final approach, the second flap setting (35°) was deployed.
Approximately 350 meters before the runway threshold, the pilot retracted one stage of flaps. This configuration change, combined with a momentary distraction by another aircraft at the parking area and a sudden bout of sneezing just before the flare, resulted in a hard landing. The aircraft bounced twice, with the nose gear striking the ground first during the second bounce. This impact caused the nose gear to fail, forcing the aircraft to slide 500 meters along the runway before exiting the right side of the pavement and coming to rest on its nose. The aircraft sustained heavy damage.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the structural failure of the nose gear and the pilot's flight maneuvers during the final approach. Investigators examined the damage to the nose gear components, which showed evidence of significant vertical forces. The pilot, an experienced flyer with over 2,500 total flight hours, stated he had intentionally used the second flap setting to practice short-field landings. While the flight manual specifies approach speeds for full flaps (75 to 85 kt), it provides no specific guidance for the single-stage flap configuration used during the landing.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the structural failure of the nose gear fork due to excessive vertical loads during a hard landing and subsequent bounces.
- The decision to change the aircraft's configuration by retracting a flap stage during short final contributed to the difficulty in maintaining control during the flare.
- A momentary lapse in attention, caused by observing another aircraft and physical distraction, likely prevented the pilot from executing a proper flare or a go-around.