Accident Details
On a local skydiving flight operated by Skydive Kalifornia (also known as Skydive Toscana) from Cecina Airfield, the aircraft climbed to the assigned altitude. Six of the seven skydivers on board successfully bailed out. When the seventh skydiver attempted to jump, his auxiliary parachute accidentally opened while he was still inside the cabin. The parachute deployment caused the skydiver to be pulled or sucked outside the aircraft. As he exited, he collided with the right horizontal stabilizer. The impact led to the stabilizer detaching from the aircraft. Subsequently, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in a field. The crash destroyed the aircraft due to impact forces. Both pilots on board were killed. There was no post-crash fire. All seven skydivers survived without injury.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined the probable cause of the accident to be the detachment of the horizontal stabilizer following the impact with a skydiver who was dragged by his auxiliary parachute that accidentally opened while he was still inside the aircraft. This detachment resulted in a loss of control of the aircraft. Contributing factors included the design of the parachute pack: the closing flap of the safety flap covering the pin tended to come out of its seat, failing to adequately protect the locking pin from accidental interference; the structure of the right front seat interfered with the auxiliary parachute bag's closing system, causing the opening; and the suboptimal arrangement of the skydivers and the drop zone (DL) on board, with the first skydiver to exit not positioned immediately at the door and the DL facing away from the student skydiver.