What happened
During the annual Farnborough Airshow, an aircraft with registration F-XCVX, a Falcon 43, was conducting a flight demonstration. The aircraft was operated by personnel from the 22F flotilla based at Nîmes-Garons Naval Air Station. After completing several circuits of the airfield, the crew attempted a low-altitude pass over the spectators with the left engine shut down and the propeller in a feathered position.
As the aircraft approached the final stage of the maneuver, it was flying at approximately 300 feet with a speed of 140 knots and flaps set to 10 degrees. During this phase, the aircraft entered a stall and crashed into a parking area located a short distance before the runway, resulting in a large explosion. The impact caused the empennage to detach from the fuselage, subsequently striking the roof of the British Air Force Aeronautical Research Center staff mess. The accident resulted in five fatalities among the crew and one fatality on the ground.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified that the landing gear had been left in the extended position. This configuration likely caused the airspeed to be lower than intended during the process of unfeathering the port propeller. While the extended undercarriage was not the primary cause, it contributed to the aerodynamic conditions.
The most critical factor was a failure to apply sufficient rudder deflection to counteract the asymmetric thrust and drag produced by the unfeathered port propeller, potentially due to a control jam. This lack of compensation allowed yaw, sideslip, and roll to intensify during a left turn initiated by the pilot. Because the aircraft lacked sufficient altitude and airspeed to recover by reducing power on the remaining engine, the bank angle became unsustainable, leading to the stall and subsequent crash.