Accident to the Robin R2120 - U registered F-GUXU on 01/08/2019 at Metz-Nancy-Lorraine (Moselle)
Sortie latérale de piste lors de l'atterrissage, heurt d'un fossé
The pilot, accompanied by a passenger who also held a pilot licence, took off at about 14:30 from Chambley aerodrome (Meurthe-et-Moselle) for a private flight to the east of Metz (Moselle) to take pictures. During the flight, they decided to land at Metz-Nancy-Lorraine aerodrome to swap places. The pilot aligned the aircraft on long final for runway 22.
On landing, after the nose gear had touched down, the aircraft deviated to the left with an angle of about 45° from the runway centreline. Despite the pilot's inputs on the right rudder pedal, the plane veered off the runway. It struck a drainage ditch parallel to the runway, the nose gear failed, the propeller broke and the aircraft came to rest on its nose.
The investigation was not able to determine the causes of the accident. Although the wear on the nose gear was significant, it does not appear that it could have caused the gear to block in an out-of-centre position.