What happened
On January 16, 2000, a Robin DR 400-180, registered F-GBIY, was performing a flight for a club when it experienced a runway excursion at AD Ussel. During the landing on runway 10, the aircraft was subjected to a crosswind of 10 to 15 knots with gusts reaching 25 knots. This wind caused the aircraft to drift to the left, lifting the left wing and forcing the plane off the paved runway approximately 400 meters after the threshold.
Following the excursion, the pilot and three passengers exited the aircraft. Finding no obvious signs of damage, the crew manually pushed the aircraft back onto the runway. The pilot then restarted the engine and taxied the aircraft to the parking area. After conducting a pre-flight inspection, the crew proceeded to Limoges, where they landed without further incident. The aircraft was subsequently returned to the club hangar.
Two days later, during a routine inspection, a club mechanic discovered that the aircraft had sustained damage. Specifically, the right wing's skin had been torn approximately 10 centimeters below the leading edge near the wingtip. Additionally, the propeller sustained damage, with one blade tip notched by three millimeters and the other blade slightly scuffed.
The investigation
The investigation focused on why the damage sustained during the excursion was not identified by the pilot immediately following the event. The investigation established that while the crew performed a pre-flight inspection before their subsequent flight to Limoges, the specific structural damage to the wing and the propeller nicks were not noted in the aircraft's logs or identified by the occupants at the time of the incident.
Findings
- The primary cause of the runway excursion was the insufficient consideration of the crosswind during the landing phase.
- The damage to the aircraft went undetected by the pilot immediately following the excursion, allowing the aircraft to fly a subsequent leg to Limoges with existing structural and propeller damage.