What happened
On Friday, August 5, 2011, a Jodel DR221 (registration F-BPCK) was operating a flight from Lapalisse to Le Puy with two passengers on board. Upon arrival at Le Puy, the pilot observed a wind direction from the south/southeast via the windsock and proceeded to land on the paved runway 15.
During the landing roll, the aircraft's trajectory began to drift slightly to the right. In an attempt to correct this, the pilot applied left rudder pedal. This input caused the aircraft to swerve abruptly to the left, resulting in the aircraft exiting the runway and colliding with a light beacon. The pilot was subsequently able to regain directional control and maneuver the aircraft back to the parking area. There were no reported injuries, though the fuselage sustained heavy damage.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the pilot's control inputs and the aircraft's handling characteristics during the landing phase. Investigators noted that the pilot had a total of 265 flight hours, with 36 hours on this specific aircraft type and 9 hours logged in the three months preceding the event.
Analysis of the aircraft's configuration revealed that the presence of a passenger in the rear seat altered the aircraft's center of gravity. This shift in weight distribution affected the aircraft's sensitivity to rudder inputs, making the plane more responsive to the pilot's corrective actions than anticipated.