Accident to the Robin DR400 registered F-GLKL on 30 juillet 2024 at Buigny-Saint-Maclou

The pilot, accompanied by three passengers, undertook a flight from a runway measuring 550 m, the sole runway in use that day. He indicated that he had reached the target speed when passing the ground reference he had fixed for himself and started rotating at the manufacturer's recommended rotation speed. The pilot, who was aware that this runway was restrictive given the weight of the aeroplane and the exceptionally high outside air temperature, probably unconsciously made a large nose-up input, leading to an increased angle of attack and drag. The proximity of the road, situated at around 200 m from the end of the runway may have also contributed to the pilot unwittingly taking a high pitch attitude.  The aeroplane, at this point very probably held on the backside of the power curve, did not accelerate and then lost height. After flying over the road at a very low height, the pilot was unable to avoid collision with the ground. Although highly unlikely, the investigation was not able to exclude a decrease in power undetected by the pilot or a flap configuration error.

During the evacuation, the canopy slid forward around 30 cm before blocking very probably due to deformations of the airframe. With the canopy in this position, the pilot was unable to reach the release handles and the occupants had to evacuate the aeroplane by the available small opening before it was completely destroyed by the fire.