Beech 200 F-GMPO accident at Montpellier aerodrome

Accident overview and flight sequence On Friday 7 January 2011 at 08:13 local time, a Beech 200 registered F-GMPO, operated by a company, departed runway 13L at Montpellier aerodrome for an IFR flight to Albert Bray with two passengers. During initial climb, the pilot flying, seated in the left seat, found the left attitude indicator unusable. The captain, in the right seat, took control and continued using the right attitude indicator. The pilot flying then noticed the amber generator warning lights illuminated and attempted, without success, to reset the generators. The captain decided to interrupt the flight and asked the pilot flying to extend the landing gear. During the normal gear-extension sequence, the aircraft experienced a total electrical failure. Cockpit illumination was very low, making instrument indications difficult to read. The captain asked the pilot flying to illuminate the instruments with an electric torch. The captain briefly saw the threshold of runway 31R. The pilot flying suggested a go-around because of a doubt about gear lock. During a low circuit, the pilot flying continued the manual gear-extension procedure. As the precautionary landing became imminent, the pilot flying interrupted the manual extension, still uncertain whether the gear was locked because sufficient resistance had not been felt. Given the weather and instrument-reading difficulties, the captain decided to land. During landing roll, the main landing gear slowly collapsed, the fuselage contacted the ground, and the aircraft stopped on the runway. The aircraft was heavily damaged.