Accident to the Cessna 208 registered F-GXMP on 30/04/2022 at Pamiers

Prior to the penultimate rotation of the day, the pilot added a quantity of fuel that he estimated to be sufficient to make two rotations. Based on the quantities of fuel indicated by the pilot, the amber low fuel level indicator lights for the tanks were most probably illuminated at the end of the penultimate rotation. During start-up for the last rotation, these amber indicator lights most probably illuminated again. During the climb, the pilot realised that the fuel gauges displayed a level close to the minimum. He continued the climb to the drop height of 4,000 m.

At a height of approximately 3,800 m, the low fuel level indicator light for the feeder tank illuminated in red. The pilot asked the 18 parachutists to jump as quickly as possible. The female passenger voluntarily remained on board.

One minute later, upon completion of the drop, the pilot began the descent. During the descent, the engine shut down. The pilot extended his path to avoid interfering with the parachutists. In the base leg, he extended the flaps to the landing configuration, but did not feather the propeller. He specified that this was to avoid overshooting the runway. On final, finding himself low on the glide path, he retracted the flaps to reduce the drag and allow him to reach the runway. The aeroplane lost lift and immediately sank, it touched down in a field before the runway threshold and finally came to a stop in a ditch.