What happened
On 14 October 2011, a Piper PA-28-140, registration G-BBEF, was conducting a private VFR flight from Neuchâtel, Switzerland, to Amiens, France. The flight was part of a return journey to the United Kingdom. After taking off from Neuchâtel, the aircraft initially flew along the northern shore of Lake Neuchâtel under clear skies. However, the pilot's intended route required navigating near the Jura mountain range, where significant cloud cover was present.
As the aircraft progressed, the pilot attempted to maneuver around the cloud mass. Radar data shows the aircraft performed a series of sharp turns, including a 290-degree left turn, in an attempt to avoid obstacles. During a radio transmission to the Geneva flight information centre, the pilot was heard in an agitated state, stating he had just re-entered the clouds and could no longer see anything. Shortly after this contact, the aircraft disappeared from radar. The wreckage was located later that afternoon at the edge of a woodland at Petit Beauregard. The accident resulted in two fatalities.