What happened
A twin-engine aircraft, operated by the aerial photography company IMAO, departed from Limoges-Bellegarde Airport at 10:09 local time. The flight crew consisted of the pilot and one operator. The mission objectives involved conducting aerial photography over the Peyrelevade sector at 7,000 feet, followed by a second pass over Ussel at an altitude of 6,500 feet.
After completing the scheduled photographic tasks without incident, the pilot initiated the return flight to Limoges. Upon contacting air traffic control, the crew was directed to perform a right base leg approach for landing on runway 03. During the descent, approximately two minutes after descending through 3,000 feet, the pilot notified controllers that the aircraft was running low on fuel and declared an intention to perform an emergency landing.
The aircraft subsequently struck trees and came to rest in a field situated roughly 3,600 feet short of runway 03 near Verneuil-sur-Vienne. The impact resulted in two serious injuries and the total loss of the twin-engine airplane.
Findings
The investigation determined that the crash occurred due to fuel exhaustion after the aircraft had been in flight for a duration of five hours and 15 minutes.