What happened
On September 25, 1998, a Cessna F 177RG was conducting a flight from Brilon to Ballenstedt. Around 10:51 AM, the pilot established radio contact with the Ballenstedt airfield. Due to other traffic on the frequency, the pilot initially received only a request to stand by. During a subsequent contact a few minutes later, the pilot declared intentions to land and was informed that visibility was approximately 1.8 km due to haze.
Shortly after, the aircraft flew over the airfield at a low altitude, heading northeast. The pilot briefly dipped the right wing to signal that the airfield was in sight. While attempting the final approach to runway 2D, the aircraft made contact with the ground approximately 2 km east of the airfield. The impact resulted in three fatalities (the pilot and two passengers) and the total destruction of the aircraft. After the aircraft failed to land as expected and radio contact ceased, an emergency signal was detected on the 121.5 MHz frequency, leading to a search that located the wreckage in a field roughly 250–300 meters north of the approach centerline.
The investigation
BFU investigators examined the wreckage to reconstruct the sequence of events. The impact analysis revealed that the aircraft first struck the ground with its landing gear extended, at a heading of 325° with a right bank of approximately 10° and a -10° pitch. The right main gear and the right wing strut struck first, followed by the engine underside and the left gear. The aircraft then briefly lifted off before striking the ground again in a much steeper attitude, causing the aircraft to bounce and eventually somersault. This sequence caused the forward fuselage and the tail structure behind the cabin to break, while the engine and the single wing were torn away. The debris field spanned 95 meters.
Investigators also recovered a GPS unit with a large moving map display from the site, though the data on its hard drive was unrecoverable. The pilot, who was the owner and operator, had over 1,405 total flight hours, including 325 hours in this specific model. An autopsy revealed no health issues that would have impaired the pilot's ability to fly.
Findings
- The pilot attempted to continue the approach despite the fact that another aircraft on the same frequency had recently aborted its approach due to insufficient visibility.
- While performing the turn to final approach, the pilot likely lost visual contact with the airfield, potentially due to a bank of fog.
- Insufficient visibility in the approach area for runway 27 was the primary factor leading to the unintended ground contact.