What happened
On May 30, 2004, at approximately 11:45, a Jodel D 20 ultralight, identified as 88-HM, was involved in a fatal accident near Darnieulles, France. The flight began earlier that morning when the pilot departed from the Epinal-Dogneville aerodrome, intending to fly to Chaumont to pick up a passenger. After a brief local flight and a landing at the Laville-aux-bois ultralight airfield, the crew departed again, heading toward Epinal.
Following a low-altitude maneuver near the Epinal-Mirecourt aerodrome, the pilot began flying at a very low altitude over cultivated fields. While traversing a wheat field at an estimated height of 20 meters, the pilot intentionally pitched the aircraft downward to fly parallel to the wheat rows at a speed of approximately 200 km/h. During this maneuver, the wheel fairings made contact with the 50-centimeter-tall wheat. The aircraft subsequently struck the ground with high horizontal velocity, sliding for approximately 50 meters before breaking apart. The impact resulted in one fatality (the pilot) and one serious injury (the passenger).
The investigation
The investigation reconstructed the flight path using data from the onboard GPS. While there was some uncertainty regarding the precise altitude during the entire maneuver, the data confirmed that a significant portion of the flight was conducted at a very low altitude. Investigators also noted the terrain characteristics, observing that the field where the impact occurred featured a slight upward slope.
Findings
The primary cause of the accident was identified as risk-taking by the pilot. The investigation established that the pilot intentionally descended to a height of roughly 20 meters to perform a low-level flight over crops, leading to the wheel fairings striking the vegetation and the subsequent loss of control and ground impact.