Accident Overview
A single-engine Pilatus PC-6 departed Cremona-Migliaro Airport in the morning on a local skydiving flight, its second sortie of the day. The aircraft carried a pilot and eight skydivers. Upon reaching 4,000 meters altitude, all eight skydivers jumped successfully, and the pilot began descending to return to the airport.
Collision and Crash
While descending toward runway 11, the airplane collided with the eighth skydiver, who struck the left wing and the vertical stabilizer. A large section of the left wing separated, causing the aircraft to enter an uncontrolled descent. It crashed in a cornfield in Livrasco, about two kilometers north of the airport. The pilot and the skydiver were killed. The airplane was totally destroyed.
Official Findings
The probable cause of the accident was an in-flight collision between the descending Pilatus PC-6 and a free-falling track-suit parachutist. This collision resulted in loss of control and destruction of the left wing, leading to an uncontrolled ground impact. Contributing factors included inadequate coordination between pilot and parachutist regarding their descent and drift paths; meteorological conditions at the time of exit, which occurred in cloud without visual ground contact, incompatible with VFR flight rules and parachuting regulations; and the absence of codified Italian procedures integrating jump protocols with aircraft operations, particularly for deconfliction. The investigation also noted a general lack of rules and controls for non-training parachuting activities.