Accident to the Robin DR400 registered F-GNNE on 18/04/2021 at Saint-Pathus
Collision avec un oiseau, perte de contrôle et collision avec le sol, en instruction
The student pilot and the instructor were flying the last leg of a triangular cross-country flight to land at Lognes. Shortly after they had flown over Plessis-Belleville aerodrome, a great cormorant struck the left wing of the aeroplane. The strike damaged the covering on the lower surface of the wing and part of the main spar. It also invalidated the airspeed displayed on board. The instructor, who probably took back the controls, likely tried to reduce the rolling action. However, at a speed still close to cruising speed, the presence of a foreign body on the leading edge, the phenomenon of scooping induced by the tear to the covering on the lower surface of the wing and the resulting distortion of the wing profile, probably significantly degraded the aerodynamic characteristics of the aeroplane. Even if, in all likelihood, the wing globally maintained its geometry, the aeroplane probably became extremely difficult to control. It entered a left roll, then went nose-down, before colliding with the ground.