Accident to the Jodel D140 registered F-HJLB on 21/05/2022 at Les Adrets

On the day of the accident, as part of the sightseeing flight, the pilot had to change his choice of aeroplane so that he could take four people on board instead of the three initially planned. He chose to use a Jodel D140-C. The outside temperature was around 32°C at the aerodrome.

The pilot took off from runway 04 and, reaching the exit point to the north of the aerodrome, turned towards the Les Adrets valley.

The investigation was unable to determine whether the route through the Les Adrets valley was the pilot’s choice or whether he was constrained by the terrain and altitude. It is nevertheless likely, given the radio message sent to the controller before take-off, that the pilot intended to follow a circuit similar to that of the first sightseeing flight made a few hours earlier aboard F-GNXT, which, equipped with a turbocharged engine, has better climb performance than F-HJLB.

Flying alongside the terrain in climb and following a straight path, the pilot probably estimated that he would be able to gain enough altitude to clear the ridge line to his right and rejoin the circuit he flew previously.

The position of the accident site, in the extension of the path followed and close to the last recorded point, and the analysis of the wreckage seemed to indicate that the pilot did not attempt to turn around to the left in the valley before colliding with the vegetation.

The slowness of the flight described by the witnesses and the observed decrease in ground speed recorded with a very light wind, as well as the altitude of the site slightly lower than the last recorded point, could correspond to a gradual transition to the backside of the power curve without the pilot noticing. He probably increased the aeroplane’s pitch attitude gradually, in the absence of a natural horizon, which led to a gradual reduction in the aeroplane’s speed and climb performance. The plane stopped climbing and collided with trees.