Collision of Ikarus C 42 B Aircraft D-MSON and D-MUHH over Dittingen

Incident Overview and Aircraft Details On 23 August 2015, at 11:21 local time, two Ikarus C 42 B ultralight aircraft, registered D-MSON and D-MUHH, collided in flight over the locality of Dittingen in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland. The incident occurred approximately 550 meters northeast of the Dittingen airfield (LSPD) at an altitude of around 415 meters above sea level. A third Ikarus C 42 B aircraft, registered D-MHDP, was part of the formation but was not involved in the collision. ## Formation Flight and Sequence of Events The three aircraft were performing a formation flight under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) as part of a demonstration program. The pilots had been training together at the Bremgarten airfield (EDTG) in Germany and had previously conducted a demonstration and a training flight at Dittingen on 22 August 2015. On the day of the accident, the pilots took off from runway 11 at Dittingen at 11:17 local time in a triangular formation. During the maneuver, the lead aircraft (D-MSON) executed a wave-like flight path, descending below the other two aircraft. As the lead pilot initiated a third climb, he reported not seeing the other two aircraft or their smoke trails. At that moment, the top of D-MSON struck the underside of the rear fuselage of D-MUHH. ## Impact and Aftermath Following the collision, D-MUHH pitched nose-down and crashed into a shelter in Dittingen, where it was completely destroyed. The pilot of D-MUHH was fatally injured. The pilot of D-MSON activated the ballistic recovery system shortly after the impact, and the aircraft landed under a parachute in a garden at the edge of the village. The pilot sustained only minor injuries and exited the aircraft under his own power. The third aircraft, D-MHDP, was not damaged, and its pilot was uninjured. Third-party damage included damage to a building and a vehicle.