What happened
On the morning of January 25, 2003, an instruction flight was being prepared at the Saint-Pierre Pierrefonds aerodrome. The aircraft involved, a Cessna 152 registered F-GDOR, had its engine running for a training session. During the pre-flight phase, the instructor exited the cockpit while the engine was still operational.
As the instructor moved around the aircraft, he walked beneath the wing near the strut, focused on an individual located in a nearby aero club hangar. While walking with a hurried gait, the instructor entered the path of the rotating propeller, sustaining a fatal injury. The student pilot, who remained in the cockpit, immediately shut down the engine and exited the aircraft to provide assistance.
The investigation
Investigators established that the instructor had been distracted by a person in the hangar. This individual had left a voicemail for the instructor two days prior regarding a fuel tank verification for a co-owned aircraft. During the instructor's movement around the plane, eye contact was maintained between the instructor and the person in the hangar until the moment of the propeller strike.
Additionally, the investigation noted that another aircraft was taxiing on a nearby taxiway at the time of the event. This movement was positioned approximately ten meters from the stationary F-GDOR and likely contributed to the instructor's haste.