Accident Overview
On 11 October 1985, a Piper PA-28-140 (registration HB-OMT) operated by Aéro-Club des Montagnes Neuchâteloises was destroyed in a landing accident at Birrfeld Airport. The solo student pilot sustained slight injuries.
Flight History
The student pilot, holding a valid learner's permit, had 39 hours 7 minutes total flight time, with 33 hours 45 minutes on the accident aircraft type. He was on a solo navigation flight of 250 km planned route: Les Eplatures – Birrfeld – Yverdon – Les Eplatures. The flight was approved by his instructor after completing required dual cross-country landings. He departed Les Eplatures at 1404 hours.
Sequence of Events
Approaching Birrfeld, the pilot flew the standard approach to runway 08. After turning onto final approach, he felt too high and attempted to steepen the descent by pushing the control column forward and reducing power to land in the first third of the runway.
The first touchdown on the runway caused a bounce. The pilot pulled the control column slightly aft, resulting in a second touchdown and another bounce. Seeing a wooded hill ahead, he considered a go-around possible and applied full throttle. The aircraft lifted briefly, but the pilot felt it could not clear the hill and reduced power. The aircraft touched down at the runway end and rolled toward the forest.
A flight instructor who was supervising another student's landing training described the approach: he noticed the aircraft crossing the runway 08 threshold at about 15 m altitude with approximately 20 kt excess speed in an unsteady approach, suggesting a nervous pilot. About 150 m before the runway end, he observed the aircraft being forced onto the ground, making two to three significant bounces, then departing the runway to the left at about 45° and disappearing behind an obstacle. He could not confirm whether a go-around was initiated due to other aircraft noise.
After leaving the runway to the left, the aircraft made a short hop over a perpendicular field road at the runway end, then rolled across a field, deviating slightly left of the landing direction, and came to a stop at the forest edge approximately 280 m from the runway end at 1450 hours.
Findings
- The pilot was authorized for the flight and held a valid student license.
- The aircraft was certified for commercial VFR day operations; weight and balance were within limits.
- The last 100-hour inspection was performed on 3 September 1985 at 3791 hours total time; at the accident, total time was approximately 3860 hours.
- No pre-existing defects were found. Examination of the brake system revealed no negative findings; the brake fluid reservoir was empty but may have emptied during wreckage transport or due to severed brake lines.
- Runway 08 had 600 m available landing distance. Beyond the runway end, there were no significant obstacles for approximately 400 m. The aircraft came to rest 280 m from the runway end, at a forest that lies about 10 m higher than the runway, at an angle of 25° north of the runway axis.
- Tire track analysis: the aircraft was in a three-point attitude 40 m before the runway end, with all wheels left of the runway on grass. At the runway end, the right wheel was 7 m from the runway edge. Short marks from all wheels were visible on the perpendicular field road. From 18 m after the field road to the accident site, tracks of all three wheels were straight and continuous. No skid marks from heavy braking were found.
- The field between the runway and the forest was planted with rapeseed approximately 25 cm high.
- Weather conditions: light high cloud cover, visibility more than 10 km, surface wind variable at 2 kt.
- Upon impact with trees, both wings were torn off. The propeller had cut through a 25 cm thick beech tree, indicating significant engine power at impact.
Cause
The accident was attributed to a late initiation of a go-around. Contributing factors included reduced reactions under psychological pressure and limited experience in landings away from the home airport.