Bouncing During Landing of a Robin DR400-140B at Andernos-les-Bains (F-GBVT)

Flight Details and Accident Sequence On 21 July 2013 at 09:40 local time, a Robin DR400-140B registered F-GBVT, operated by a club, was on a local personal convenience flight at the Andernos-les-bains aerodrome (33), runway 13, an unpaved runway. The aircraft carried the pilot-in-command and three passengers. During the final approach, the pilot reported that the aircraft was on the approach path and axis at 65 kt with flaps in landing configuration. The wind was nil to light from the south-west. During the flare, the aircraft touched the runway gently and then lifted off again, surprising the pilot. The pilot kept the control column back. The aircraft bounced again. The pilot continued to hold the control column back, briefly applied full power and then reduced it completely. The aircraft bounced again. The pilot released the control column. The aircraft landed hard on the nose gear. The pilot explained that after the first bounce, he feared a hard contact on the main landing gear that could have damaged the aircraft. ## Additional Information The pilot had obtained his private pilot licence in 2002. Since then, he had flown all the club aircraft (Cessna 150, Dyn’aéro MCR 4S, Tecnam P2002JF, Jabiru, DR400). He owned an ATL aircraft which he used regularly. The flight preceding the accident, a few days earlier, consisted of a proficiency flight on the MCR 4S with an instructor, the DR400 not being available. His last flight on a DR400 dated from 1 May 2012. He had a total of 187 flight hours, including 40 on the DR400. To act as pilot-in-command carrying passengers, regulations require three landings and three take-offs in the preceding three months on an aircraft of the same class, in this case single-engine piston (SEP) aircraft. The club’s internal rules state: “three months without training on an aircraft will lead to a training flight with an instructor on an aircraft.” It was in application of this provision that the pilot had done a flight with an instructor. ## Findings and Conclusion The accident was due to inappropriate pilot actions after a bounce during landing. The pilot’s limited recent experience on a DR400, with four people on board, probably contributed. The regulations, like the club’s internal rules, do not impose a more precise experience criterion than that related to the single-engine piston category. Consequently, it is up to each pilot to estimate, on their own or in dialogue with an instructor, whether the planned flight is within the scope of their competencies. BEA investigations have the sole objective of improving aviation safety and do not aim at determining faults or responsibilities.