What happened
On December 29, 2006, a Piper PA-28, registration F-GHKB, was conducting a cross-country flight from Chelles to Aurillac. The pilot, who had originally planned a local flight but decided to travel to visit family, departed at 13:40 UTC under VFR conditions. While the flight was proceeding normally and the pilot had maintained contact with Limoges Flight Information Service (FIS) earlier in the flight, radar contact was lost at 15:39 UTC.
Approximately fifteen minutes before the scheduled arrival in Aurillac, the pilot deviated from the planned route to fly through the Dordogne gorges for sightseeing purposes. During this low-altitude maneuver, the aircraft struck a 90 kV power line, severing a cable, and subsequently hit a 225 kV line. The impact caused the aircraft to lose its right wing and enter an uncontrolled descent, resulting in a fatal crash into the steep terrain. The one fatality was the pilot.
The investigation
The investigation examined the aircraft wreckage, the site of the impact, and the pilot's flight preparations. Investigators recovered a navigation chart used by the pilot, which showed a planned route but lacked detailed terrain and obstacle information. A digital camera found in the wreckage provided critical evidence; a 22-second video recording captured the flight through the gorges, showing the pilot using one hand to operate the camera while the other controlled the aircraft. The video ended at the moment of the first collision.
Analysis of the site revealed that the aircraft was flying at an altitude significantly below the regulatory minimum of 500 feet. Investigators also noted that the 1:1,000,000 scale aeronautical chart being used did not display the power lines or detailed relief, as it is primarily intended for airspace information.
Findings
- The accident was caused by the decision to fly at an altitude below the legal minimum to perform improvised sightseeing.
- The visual detection of the power lines was extremely difficult because the cables were thin and provided low contrast against the landscape.
- Sunlight positioned low on the horizon, ahead and to the right of the pilot, created a glare that further obscured the visibility of the obstacles.
- The pilot's attention was divided, as he was actively filming the landscape with a camera during the low-level flight.