What happened
On March 13, 2006, a Nord 3202 aircraft, registration F-AZIL, departed from Pontoise aerodrome for a local flight destined for Dieppe. After approximately eighty minutes in the air, the pilot in the rear seat contacted Pontoise approach to rejoin the airfield circuit. The aircraft entered the left-hand base leg for runway 05. Immediately following the completion of the final turn, the aircraft entered a sharp right bank with a heavy nose-down attitude and struck the ground in a field approximately two nautical miles from the runway threshold.
The impact resulted in two fatalities, as both the pilot in the front seat and the passenger died from injuries sustained during the crash. An aircraft following the F-AZIL in the circuit observed the sudden, violent deviation from the flight path just before the impact.
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage and found no evidence of mechanical failure. The control linkages for the elevator and ailerons remained continuous, and the engine and supercharger showed no anomalies upon disassembly. Analysis of the fuel and oil also revealed no contaminants or issues that could have contributed to the accident. The aircraft had sufficient fuel remaining at the time of impact.
Medical examinations of the occupants were conducted as part of the investigation. While the autopsy confirmed that the deaths were caused by traumatic injuries from the impact, investigators noted that the pilot in the front seat had a pre-existing condition known as left concentric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This pathology is capable of causing sudden medical events, though it could not be definitively proven that such an event occurred during the flight.
Findings
- The aircraft experienced a sudden loss of control during the final approach.
- A sudden medical event involving the pilot in the front seat is considered the most likely cause of the loss of control.
- It is hypothesized that the pilot in the front seat may have experienced a cardiac episode, leading to a violent or involuntary movement of the flight controls or a sudden change in power settings, which the pilot in the rear seat was unable to counteract in time.