What happened
On April 10, 2007, a student pilot was conducting a solo local flight in a Robin HR 200-120 B, registration F-GNNH, at Saint-Cyr-l’Ecole aerodrome. After completing a previous instructional flight with an instructor, the student pilot returned for a solo circuit.
During the initial landing attempt on runway 30 right, the aircraft bounced. At this moment, an unauthorized individual on the radio frequency addressed the student pilot by name, instructing them to "add a little power, add a little power!" Following this, the student pilot initiated a second approach. The instructor, observing the flight from another aircraft, advised the student to monitor airspeed and maintain back pressure on the controls.
During the second landing attempt, as the wheels touched the ground, the same unauthorized individual intervened via radio again, repeating the instruction to increase power. The pilot responded by increasing engine power, which caused the aircraft to pitch up sharply. The aircraft climbed at a low airspeed before falling forward onto its nose. The impact caused the nose gear to collapse, and the aircraft came to a rest on its propeller. The aircraft sustained heavy damage.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events leading to the loss of control and the impact of radio communications on the pilot's actions. Investigators identified that a pilot with 800 flight hours, who was parked on the ground, had been monitoring the frequency. This individual observed the student's first approach as having excessive speed and increasing bounce amplitude, prompting the first radio intervention. During the second approach, the individual perceived the aircraft as being too low and slow, leading to the second radio instruction.
The student pilot stated that they believed all instructions received over the radio were coming from their instructor and subsequently followed them. The instructor confirmed that while the first approach appeared slightly fast, they chose not to intervene to avoid distracting the student, but noted that the second approach appeared stable until the radio interference occurred during the bounce.