Accident to the Airbus EC130 registered 3A-MVT operated by Monacair on 25/11/2022 at Villefranche-sur-Mer

The investigation was able to establish that the pilot had undertaken the flight while under the influence of cocaine and showed signs of recent consumption of CBD, THC and alcohol.

The pilot was on a VFR flight from Lausanne (Switzerland) to Monaco. Based on the flight file and the meteorological data available to the pilot, it was not possible to predict the appearance of mist and fog on arrival in the region around Nice and Monaco.

After descending towards Nice, as he approached the coast, the pilot was confronted with this local phenomenon of sea haze, centred on the Col d’Èze pass between Nice and Monaco. This meteorological phenomenon, although sudden, is known of by most people who, like him, live in the region.

The pilot, who was not qualified for instrument flight and had little training in blind navigation, reduced speed in the face of this meteorological hazard, continued on his heading, entered the clouds and lost all external visual references.

The topographical and meteorological analysis showed that it would have been possible to avoid the clouds around the accident site by easily circumventing them via Nice to the west of him or by turning east to stay north of the terrain in clouds. It is possible that the pilot's ability to reason was impaired by drug consumption.

The pilot then banked the helicopter to the left, reaching a roll of 50°. When he briefly regained sight of the ground, he made an impulsive input on the flight controls to cancel the left bank. He then banked the helicopter to the right before returning to a horizontal attitude. The helicopter then entered a nose-up attitude and gained height, before inverting, carrying out a 180° turn (half-turn) around its yaw axis and entering a 60° nose-down attitude. All these unusual attitudes were the result of the pilot's actions on the controls.

When the pilot briefly regained sight of the ground, he made a nose-up input on the cyclic pitch stick. The helicopter collided with the ground in a nose-up attitude, parallel to the slope of the mountain.

The pilot's profile was that of a surreptitious user in the habit of repeated transgressive use of cocaine in the months preceding the accident. The ability of these users to get around controls based on saliva screening tests, which at best detect drug consumption in the previous few days, explains why they remain unrecognised for so long. The inexorable deterioration in their abilities contrasts with their continuing high self-esteem, which prevents them from realising their true limitations.

The operator had implemented a screening policy, training and resources that complied with European regulations and were comparable to those recommended in France. In particular, the pilot had undergone tests on recruitment which had proved negative.

Although experienced in flight under day VFR, the pilot had not received sufficient training to fly without visual references and did not have clear instructions in the event of inadvertent entry into these conditions. His piloting was impaired by the sudden change in the brightness of his environment with the onset of sea haze, as well as by the adverse effects of drugs. In this context, once he had entered the cloud layer, with his judgement impaired by the drugs, it was difficult for him to maintain the flight parameters and to undertake, at low height and close to the terrain, any rectification manoeuvre such as climbing to a safe altitude.