What happened
On May 7, 2000, a Cessna T 303 was performing a short, 11-minute visual flight from Schwenningen to Rottweil. The flight was operated by a single pilot. Upon approaching runway 08 at Rottweil-Zepfenhan, the aircraft crossed the runway threshold in a landing configuration. While the engines were maintained at a steady, non-idle power setting, the aircraft began drifting in a shallow left turn.
As the aircraft moved past the first 150 meters of the runway, it followed the descending terrain into a valley, eventually disappearing from the view of the tower controllers. The aircraft, which had its landing gear and flaps retracted, struck the ground in a hilly meadow approximately 800 meters from the runway threshold. The impact left a 100-meter track in the terrain before the aircraft came to a halt. A fire broke out following the impact, consuming the fully fueled aircraft. The pilot managed to escape through the rear cabin door and sustained minor injuries.
The investigation
The BFU investigation included an on-site examination and witness interviews. Two witnesses at the control tower observed the final approach. One witness, an experienced pilot of the same type, described the approach speed and altitude as normal. The air traffic controller noted the aircraft appeared slightly high at the threshold. Both witnesses agreed that the engines were running at a steady, reduced power setting consistent with a normal approach, and neither observed a reduction to idle power nor an increase in power that would indicate a go-around attempt.
Physical evidence from the propeller blade deformations confirmed that the engines were operating at partial power at the moment of ground contact. The investigation found no mechanical defects on the aircraft that could explain the sequence of events.
Findings
- The aircraft was in a landing configuration at the threshold but had the landing gear and flaps retracted prior to impact.
- The pilot did not reduce power to idle to facilitate the landing, nor did they apply takeoff power to initiate a go-around.
- The specific cause of the flight path deviation and subsequent undershoot could not be determined.