1998 Beaune Robin DR 400-180 Accident

Incident Overview and Aircraft Details On 27 June 1998 at 15:00 UTC, a Robin DR 400-180 with registration F-GCAY, operated by a club, suffered a fatal accident shortly after takeoff from Beaune aerodrome (21). The aircraft was on a passenger flight with a pilot and three passengers on board. The pilot was a 49-year-old private pilot with 1,308 total flight hours, including nine hours in the preceding three months. ## Circumstances and Wreckage Examination The aircraft took off from runway 21. Witnesses reported hearing a decrease in engine power and observed the plane turn right and descend. It crashed into a ditch on the right side of the runway, approximately 300 meters from the runway end. The wreckage was found with a magnetic orientation of 300 degrees. Fuel was present in the tanks, and the flight controls showed no anomalies. The propeller cone was frontally dented, with one blade bent backward. The flaps were in the landing position, and the aircraft was within its centering limits. ## Engine and Component Analysis Investigation of the Lycoming P-360A3A engine revealed no mechanical failure in flight. The propeller was turning slowly at impact. A 5 cm² piece of paint had detached from the inside of the carburetor airbox and blocked the carburetor venturi. The airbox, installed as a new part on 3 November 1997, had been painted with automotive coatings. Spectrographic and chemical analysis showed that the intermediate primer layer lacked sufficient hardener, resulting in poor adhesion of the finish paint. ## Probable Cause and Safety Recommendations The engine failure was caused by the ingestion of a paint flake into the carburetor, which choked the air supply. The paint had detached due to inadequate hardener in the primer used during the part's manufacture. This defect was not detected because paint adhesion was not tested after application. The BEA recommended that SFACT issue an airworthiness directive to inspect the paint condition on carburetor airboxes for Robin aircraft, and that the design of airboxes be modified to prevent paint detachment.