2005 Lormaison Robin DR400-180 accident (F-GSBH)

Accident Overview and Flight Details On 13 April 2005, a Robin DR400-180 aircraft, registration F-GSBH, operated by the Aéroclub Central des Métallurgistes (ACCM), crashed at Lormaison (60) in France. The flight was a training exercise involving a pilot, an instructor, and two passengers. The aircraft departed from the uncontrolled aerodrome of Persan-Beaumont (95) around 13:00 UTC for a flight of approximately thirty minutes. During the flight, the crew performed three simulated engine failure exercises in the aerodrome circuit and likely at least one in the area near the accident site. ## Wreckage and Site Examination The wreckage was found on the edge of a large flat field at an altitude of approximately 400 feet, beneath the TMA 1 of Pontoise, which has a floor of 1,500 feet. The complete wreckage came to rest on its belly, oriented toward the northeast. Deformations indicated the aircraft struck the ground with a nose-down attitude of about 45 degrees, a right bank, a significant vertical speed, and a low horizontal speed. The engine was found rotating and delivering low power at impact. The main fuel tank was ruptured but still contained some fuel, and its analysis showed no anomalies. The throttle cable was broken at impact, preventing determination of the throttle position. ## Personnel and Meteorological Conditions The pilot was 67 years old with a PPL(A) from November 2004 and 112 total flight hours. The instructor was 42 years old with a PPL(A) from 1981, an FI from 1993, and an FE from 2002, with 3,200 total flight hours. The two passengers held PPL(A) licenses issued in October 2003 and July 2004. Meteorological conditions at nearby aerodromes included light rain, visibility over 10 km, and scattered clouds at 1,500 feet at Beauvais, and visibility of 10 km with a cloud base at 2,400 feet at Pontoise. ## Analysis and Probable Cause The BEA analysis noted that the wreckage deformations were characteristic of a stall. The report considered the possibility of a fuel exhaustion during the flare at the end of the exercise but deemed it unlikely because the engine was still rotating and a low fuel warning would have been illuminated. The available altitude for the exercise was limited to a maximum of 1,100 feet due to airspace constraints. The high workload associated with the engine failure procedure, selecting a suitable landing area, and choosing an appropriate trajectory could have degraded the pilot's monitoring of flight parameters, leading to an inadvertent stall.