Runway excursion and nose gear failure during landing at Lognes Emerainville (F-BUHP)

Accident overview and flight details On 16 February 2014 at 17:03 local time, a Robin DR400-140B registered F-BUHP, operated by a club, was on a local general-aviation flight at Aerodrome de Lognes Emerainville (77). The aircraft carried one pilot and two passengers. During landing, it made a lateral runway excursion to the left and its nose gear broke, leaving the aircraft heavily damaged. ## Approach and landing sequence Returning from a local flight, the pilot joined the right-hand downwind for runway 26, a 700 m by 20 m paved runway with a true QFU of 262°. The controller advised the pilot he was number three and asked him to maintain speed so as not to delay the aircraft behind him. During the flare, with full flaps, the aircraft had a strong nose-up attitude. The right wing rose, the left wingtip touched the runway, and the aircraft left the runway to the left at about 500 m from the runway 26 threshold. The nose gear then failed. ## Pilot account and video evidence The pilot, aged 40 with 172 total flight hours including 4 hours in the previous three months on a DR400-180 with a high-pitch propeller, said he was slightly above the nominal descent path indicated by the PAPI during the final approach and considered that he crossed the threshold with excess speed. He explained that he maintained a nose-up input during what he described as a high flare. He then identified the stall warning, which led him reflexively to increase engine power briefly. He noted that the aircraft was then strongly nose-up and offset to the left of the runway. A passenger in the right seat filmed the end of the flight. The video and spectral analysis of the audio showed that at the start of the final approach the aircraft was above the nominal approach path, with the PAPI showing three white lights. Engine speed was 1,700 rpm and indicated speed was about 80 kt and decreasing. Twenty-five seconds after the start of the final, the aircraft was below the nominal descent path. Fifteen seconds later, it crossed the runway threshold; the pilot reduced power and flared. In ground effect, he pulled back on the control column and the aircraft regained altitude. The stall warning sounded briefly. The pilot briefly increased engine power to 2,100 rpm before reducing it again while maintaining a nose-up attitude. When the aircraft reached the midpoint of the runway, the stall warning sounded again for eight seconds; the pilot made a firm power increase to 2,280 rpm. The aircraft banked left and left the runway. ## Aircraft, performance, and weather The DR400-140B F-BUHP was fitted with a low-pitch propeller. The flight manual specified an approach speed of 75 kt with flaps at 15° and a preset engine speed of 1,700 rpm; a landing speed of 62 kt with full flaps and a preset engine speed of about 1,700 rpm; and a stall speed in that configuration of 47 kt. The stall warning activated at a speed 5 to 8 kt above stall speed. The landing distance at the 15 m point, under the day’s conditions, was about 430 m, including 195 m of ground roll after touchdown. Weather observations at the time reported an average wind from 190° at 8 kt. The ATIS broadcast a wind from 200° at 12 kt. ## Findings and conclusion The BEA found that the pilot began the final approach above the descent path and with excess speed, then became short and below the descent path. During the flare, the accumulated excess energy and an excessive nose-up input caused an unwanted gain in altitude. The pilot’s uncoordinated pitch and power inputs while attempting to continue the landing kept the aircraft in ground effect at a speed close to stall. The report also noted propeller effects: for a clockwise-rotating propeller as seen from the pilot’s seat, increasing power tends to yaw the aircraft left (propeller slipstream) and roll it (torque), with these effects becoming more pronounced at high engine speed, low airspeed, and low propeller pitch. The accident was attributed to the pilot’s decision to continue a landing on a short runway after an unstabilized approach and a missed flare.