Accident to the Issoire - APM30 registered F-HBZR on 16/07/2021 at Chauvigny (Vienne)

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 December 2021. 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

The pilot, accompanied by two passengers, took off from runway 05 at Chauvigny aerodrome at around 14:15 for a local flight.
The flight was initially planned with a Robin DR400-180, but as it was not available, the pilot decided to fly the APM30 instead.
The pilot reported that during the take-off run, at full power, the aeroplane began to climb as it reached an indicated airspeed of 45 kt, i.e. 10 kt below the planned rotation speed, possibly because of a gust of wind.
The pilot then allowed the stick to move forward and lost control of the aeroplane which collided with the ground, coming to rest two-thirds of the way down the runway.

2 - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
2.1 Meteorological information

The pilot had consulted the weather information and had the following information:

- Wind from 360° at 10 to 15 kt, gusting at 20 to 25 kt
- Cloud ceiling at 2,400 ft

The automatic METAR for Poitiers Biard aerodrome, approximately 25 km away, indicated at 14:00:

- Wind from 360° at 7 kt
- Visibility greater than 10 km
- Cloud layer broken at 2,200 ft and overcast at 2,900 ft
- Temperature 19 °C and dew point 14 °C
- QNH 1024

2.2 Aeroplane information

The APM 30 is a CS-VLA[1] compliant, versatile three-seat aeroplane. Its stall speed at maximum weight is 45 kt with flap 25° selected, 52 kt with flap 12.5° selected, which is the recommended take-off configuration, and 58 kt in clean configuration. The flight manual recommends taking off with flap 12.5° selected and avoiding pitching the nose up before an indicated speed of 49 kt.

2.3 Pilot’s experience and statement

The 56-year-old pilot held a PPL(A) private pilot licence issued in 2009, with a valid single-engine piston rating.
On the day of the accident, he had logged 275 flight hours, including 10 hours on the APM30, and 3 hours 45 minutes in the previous 3 months, including 1 hour 55 minutes on the APM30. He had not flown in the month before the accident.
The pilot indicated that he thought he had taken off in the recommended flap configuration but was not quite sure. He believed that his centre of gravity was at the aft limit, which may have contributed to causing the accident.