What happened
On Saturday, April 26, 1997, at 18:55, a Lucas L5 amateur-built aircraft, registration F-PNJD, was involved in an accident at the Montmédy military airfield. The aircraft, which features retractable landing gear, was being operated for a solo flight by a student pilot following a 30-minute circuit training session with an instructor.
During the approach to runway 12, the pilot was unable to maintain the intended flight path while on short final. This resulted in the aircraft drifting to the right. The subsequent touchdown was extremely heavy, causing the landing gear to collapse. The aircraft slid on its belly and came to a halt approximately 120 meters beyond the initial contact point, positioned to the right of the runway centerline.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events leading to the landing gear failure. Investigators examined the flight conditions, noting a light wind of 4 knots from 200 degrees. The crew consisted of a 53-year-old student pilot with 13 hours of flight time on type and a 24-year-old instructor with 801 total flight hours. The investigation established that the aircraft sustained damage to both the engine and the landing gear as a result of the impact.