What happened
During a local training sortie originating from Gibraltar Airport, the crew was performing maneuvers designed to simulate emergency procedures. As the flight progressed through the final approach phase, the crew intentionally deactivated one engine to mimic an in-flight engine failure. Following this procedure, the landing gear was extended. Shortly after the undercarriage deployment, the aircraft experienced a loss of airspeed and entered a stall. The resulting descent led to the aircraft impacting the sea at a distance of several hundred yards before reaching the runway threshold.
Findings
Investigations into the accident suggest that the primary factor was an insufficient margin of safety regarding airspeed during critical configuration changes. Specifically, it is believed that the aircraft's speed was too low when the undercarriage were lowered, which directly triggered the aerodynamic stall. Although the two crew members were successfully rescued from the wreckage, the aircraft was destroyed in the impact.