Accident to the Diamond - DA40 registered F-HDKG on 11/02/2022 at Angers-Marcé (Maine-et-Loire)

Cat. 3 investigation report: report concerning an occurrence with limited consequences, based on one or more statements not independently validated by the BEA.

This is a courtesy translation by the BEA of the Final Report on the Safety Investigation published in April 2022. As accurate as the translation may be, the original text in French is the work of reference.

Note: the following information is principally based on statements made by the pilot. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.

1 - HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT

On returning from a local flight, the pilot joined the downwind leg to runway 08 of Angers-Marcé aerodrome. On landing, after the main landing gear touched down, the pilot allowed the stick to move forward to bring the nose gear down. The aeroplane sank forward before coming to a stop on the runway.

2 - PILOT’S STATEMENT

On the day of the accident, the pilot, who held a PPL (A) license issued in September 2013, had logged a total of 592 flight hours, of which 68 hours were on type. In the previous 3 months, he had logged 14 flight hours, of which 4 hours were on type.
He indicated that he had heard a thud after 15 minutes of flight, during a right turn with a bank angle of about 20°. After he had checked various instruments, he had not noted any anomaly and specified that the aeroplane behaved normally.
After the accident, the pilot noted that the upper bolt  of the shock absorber had broken. A metal washer and a rubber block were not found. Given the noise heard during the flight, he thought that the nose gear had separated from the shock absorber during the flight and that it was “hanging” under the aeroplane at the time of the landing.