What happened
A skydiving mission departed from Grenchen Airport with one pilot and eight passengers on board. During the flight, upon reaching an altitude of approximately 1,000 meters, the instructor opened the aircraft door and the pilot adjusted the airspeed to stabilize the plane for jumps.
As the jump sequence began, the first skydiver exited the cabin successfully. However, during the preparation for the second jumper, the instructor noticed that a dorsal parachute bag had partially deployed. To facilitate the exit, the instructor pushed the second individual out of the aircraft. Following this action, a sudden impact was felt, and the pilot observed damage to the horizontal stabilizer.
It is suspected that the first skydiver's exit caused excessive tension on the deployment straps, triggering an unintended partial deployment for the subsequent jumper. This sequence prompted the instructor and all remaining passengers to bail out of the aircraft. The pilot made multiple attempts to regain control and return to Grenchen Aerodrome, but after being unable to stabilize the flight, he exited the plane at 300 meters. The unmanned aircraft subsequently crashed into an open field and was destroyed. There were zero fatalities among the nine occupants.
Findings
Investigations into the incident identified two primary contributing factors:
- The internal configuration of the automatic opening system straps within the cabin was poorly designed.
- Elements from a parachute caused physical damage to the horizontal stabilizer.