Flight Details
The flight departed from Egelsbach (EDFE) near Frankfurt, Germany, at 10:09 LT, bound for Samedan (LSZS) in Switzerland. The flight plan indicated a VFR-IFR-VFR routing: initially under visual flight rules to waypoint RID, then instrument flight rules to GERSA, and finally visual flight rules to Samedan. The planned flight duration was 75 minutes, with an endurance of 4 hours and 30 minutes.
Communications and Descent
At 10:37 LT, the pilot contacted Swiss Radar Lower Sector North, reporting at flight level 210 and inbound to Trasadingen. He was instructed to continue toward GERSA. At 10:45 LT, he contacted Lower Sector South. Air traffic control directed the aircraft to descend from FL210 to FL170 and to proceed direct to Samedan. At 11:10 LT, the pilot changed from IFR to VFR and signed off from radar. He then attempted to contact Samedan aerodrome, making successful contact at 11:15 LT after several attempts.
Accident Sequence
At 11:18 LT, the pilot reported being over the aerodrome and wanting to fly east to get below the cloud ceiling. No further radio communications were received. Shortly thereafter, witnesses observed the aircraft falling out of the clouds in an uncontrolled attitude. The aircraft struck the ground in a flat spin with essentially no forward motion. The aircraft was destroyed, and all five occupants were killed.
Investigation Findings
The official investigation determined that the accident occurred when control of the aircraft was lost during an attempt to descend below the clouds for the approach to Samedan. Factors identified include exceeding the maximum permissible mass and a tail-heavy loading condition. Specifically, at take-off the aircraft's endurance was reported as 4.5 hours, but recalculation showed the actual take-off mass was 722 lb over the maximum take-off mass (MTOM). At the time of the accident, the mass was still 425 lb above MTOM. The aircraft was loaded tail-heavy. Additionally, partial cloud cover was present, with conditions changing relatively quickly; visibility below the clouds at Samedan was good.