Accident to the Morane Saulnier MS733 registered F-AZXU on 06/06/2025 near Rochefort-Charente-Maritime AD
Unintentional start of spin, collision with ground, during an airshow
On Friday 6 June at around 09:30, the air safety coordinator gave a briefing to the crews recalling the organisation, weather and safety points. All the pilots then took part in a rehearsal which proceeded without incident.
At 14:16, the pilot of the Morane Saulnier took off from runway 30 in the presence of a wind
from 230 of 10 to 15 kt. This crosswind, close to the take-off limit for the MS 733, associated with turbulence, may have increased the difficulty of the flying display for the pilot. The latter started the display in accordance with his programme. At the end of his third figure, an “S” pass, the pilot continued to a point close to the end of the downwind leg where, unlike his programme, he started a left-hand turn. This turn left him with less room to return to the display line, represented by the runway centreline.
During this turn with a tailwind, the pilot probably wanted to reduce the turn radius so as not to exceed the display line. For this reason, he probably paid attention to the management of the flight path to the detriment of monitoring the flight parameters. The inputs on the controls resulted in a sideslip followed by the progressive increase in pitch attitude and thus angle of attack. The aeroplane entered a left-hand spin, then after one and a half turns, the aeroplane exited the spin. It then entered a secondary right-hand spin until the ground.
During these two spins, the pilot held a nose-up input and reacted by a roll input in the opposite direction to the spin. These inappropriate inputs maintained the spin until the ground. The low flight height left the pilot little time to recover control of the aeroplane.
The investigation was not able to exclude the possibility of a mid-air rupture of the flap control rod. This type of rupture may result in a partial extension of the left wing flaps, which, having become free, may create a lift asymmetry conducive to a loss of control.