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Accident to the Centrair 101 registered F-CGFF on 15/08/2022 at Veynes

Late precautionary landing, stall and collision with trees on final

Responsible entity

France - BEA

Investigation progression Closed
Progress: 100%

Although the pilot did not initially plan to fly alone because he was feeling tired, he finally decided to take off in a single-seater glider. He took off with the intention of staying in the vicinity of the aerodrome and without taking any oxygen on board. Once in flight, he changed his mind and exited the vicinity of the aerodrome. After two hours of flight mostly above an altitude of 2,500 m without oxygen, he decided to return to the departure aerodrome. On the return leg, he misinterpreted the display shown on the navigation application on his phone regarding the parachute drop activity located at Gap-Tallard aerodrome, which led him to change his path too early, to avoid what he thought to be controlled airspace. He then found himself at an altitude that was too low to cross the Céüse mountain. He therefore bypassed it to the north to fly back through a valley leading to Aspres-sur-Buëch, where he could not find any uplift. In the valley, he exited the vicinity of Gap aerodrome, and continued towards Aspres-sur-Buëch. He then realised a few minutes later that he would not reach his destination and belatedly looked for a field to carry out a precautionary landing. He did not have the Guide des aires de sécurité dans les Alpes and was therefore not aware that the field he chose was a referenced safe landing area. After flying overhead the field, he joined the downwind leg at a height that was too low, to the west of the field and downwind of the terrain (which could generate localised downdrafts). During the downwind leg, he was forced to move closer to the field, which he lost sight of. He then made a U-shaped approach at the end of which he found himself off-centre to the right of the field, too low and too far from his selected aiming point. As he tried to align with the field axis, he probably made a reflex input on the elevator control to stop the descent, causing the glider to level off slightly. The glider’s speed decreased until it stalled. Too low and too far from the field, the pilot was then unable to reach it and was forced to land in the dry riverbed.