BEA study calls for better light aircraft training on flight behind the power curve

BEA, the French investigation authority, has published an analysis arguing that light aircraft pilots need more training on the risks of prolonged flight behind the power curve, a state it calls the "second regime". In this condition the aircraft flies slowly, needs a high angle of attack to hold altitude, and lacks the reserve power to accelerate or climb.

Recent inquiries had repeatedly found pilots operating in this state without realising it, BEA said. Surviving pilots testified that insufficient knowledge left them unaware of the high angle of attack and that they made no attempt to recover. They tended to read the difficulty as a shortage of engine power and an inability to climb.

The condition arises mainly in mountain flying and in normally brief low-speed phases such as take-off or a go-around. Between 2019 and 2025 the authority recorded 20 accidents in these circumstances, 12 of them fatal. Those 20 events made up 4% of light aircraft accidents in the period but 15% of fatal ones and more than 20% of the casualties, according to BEA.

Mountain scenarios follow a similar pattern, the authority found. Pilots approach terrain on a climb gradient close to the slope of the valley, but the slope steepens sharply near a summit, pass or ridge. With no natural horizon to judge pitch, a pilot will tend to raise the nose without noticing. That increases angle of attack and drag and brings the aircraft into the second regime close to the stall, at low height and with little energy in reserve.

BEA said pilots often place the aircraft in the centre of the valley, a position that offers few options.