Accident to the Piper PA46 registered N9190X on 14/09/2022 at Amiens-Glisy
Stall on short final, hard landing, during a passenger transport flight for remuneration
On 14 September 2022, the pilot, accompanied by the owner of the Piper PA46 registered N9190X, carried out a flight from Épinal - Mirecourt airport bound for Amiens - Glisy aerodrome. This remunerated flight was to transport three passengers, one of whom was the director of the company who had made the flight reservation on the OpenFly platform.
During the approach to Amiens, the pilot was confronted with stormy conditions in which heavy showers greatly limited visibility. The pilot aborted the approach when he acquired sight of the runway and observed that he was flying over the runway and no longer had the necessary runway length for landing. He then twice tried to land by carrying out visual approaches.
The radar track, the statements and the A/A frequency recordings show that the pilot lost his external visual references several times and that the aeroplane was flying below 1,000 ft on a path taking it over Amiens, and which did not correspond to any published VFR or IFR path.
During the last approach, the pilot, only perceiving the PAPI lights, offset the aeroplane to the right of them thinking that they were installed on the LH side of the runway. At low height, he perceived the runway on his left and turned to align with the runway centreline. The aeroplane stalled and touched down hard on the runway.
A safety recommendation has been addressed to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) concerning the need to set out European regulatory requirements in order to guarantee the safety of passengers transported for remuneration outside commercial air transport operations.
The BEA issues 1 safety recommendation:
- Taking into account risk of failure of a flight control [Recommendations FRAN-2024-014]
The BEA recommends that:
- whereas the significant development of platforms bringing together passengers, pilots and aircraft lessors;
- whereas these activities take multiple forms;
- whereas the passengers are not aware of the difference in safety levels between general aviation and commercial air transport;
- whereas the absence of European or national regulations clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the various parties involved (platforms, pilots, aircraft lessors, instructing party/passengers);
- whereas these flights are organized in all of the European Union;
- whereas in the absence of regulations, this passenger transport for remuneration activity is considered as coming under the general aviation regulations and consequently does not offer a sufficient guarantee of the level of safety for passengers;
- whereas the American Civil Aviation Authority (FAA) has put in place regulatory requirements relating to on-demand flight for remuneration (requirements 14 CFR Part 135);
EASA establish regulatory requirements in order to guarantee the safety of passengers carried on-demand for remuneration outside commercial air transport operations (Part CAT of European regulation AIR OPS).
The recommendation is being processed
The status of the recommendations is available at SRIS2: click here
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Note: in accordance with the provisions of Article 17.3 of Regulation No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation, a safety recommendation in no case creates a presumption of fault or liability in an accident, serious incident or incident. The recipients of safety recommendations report to the issuing authority in charge of safety investigations, on the measures taken or being studied for their implementation, as provided for in Article 18 of the aforementioned regulation.