Accident to the Tecnam P2002 registered F-HCGM on 10/11/2022 at Castelsarrasin

This is a courtesy translation by the BEA of the Final Report on the Safety Investigation published in January 2023. As accurate as the translation may be, the original text in French is the work of reference. 

Note: the following information is principally based on statements made by the student pilot. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.

1. History of the flight

As part of her training for the private pilot licence, the student pilot was authorised to fly a cross-country round trip alone on board, between Montauban aerodrome and Castelsarrasin aerodrome[1], which are approximately ten nautical miles apart.

At Castelsarrasin, the student pilot joined the left-hand downwind leg for runway 28[2]. Another aeroplane also joined the runway circuit. During the final, considering she was too high above the approach slope, she went around for a second runway circuit. She rejected her approach a second time because her speed was a little too high. During the third circuit, she landed.

She then backtracked the runway to reach the threshold of runway 28 and turned around to take-off again. She added that at this moment, she was unaware of the position of the other aeroplane in the runway circuit. She applied full power and at the very start of her take-off run she heard the pilot in the runway circuit announcing he was in the last turn. She instinctively looked to the left to search for traffic. When she returned her attention to the take-off, she realized that she had veered to the left and could not avoid a runway excursion. During the run in the grass, the nose gear broke and the aeroplane came to a stop at approximately 100 m from the runway threshold.

2. Additional information

The 50-year-old student pilot had logged approximately 50 flight hours of which a little under 4 hours in the 30 previous days. She had carried out this same cross-country flight once before, alone on board.

The student pilot explained that at the beginning of the flight, she noted that the fuel pressure indication was close to the low limit. She monitored the indication which then returned to its normal value. When she emitted her first message on the Castelsarrasin A/A frequency, a pilot told her that she was emitting on the Gaillac aerodrome frequency[3]. She then checked the frequency on the Visual Approach Chart and obtained confirmation by contacting the FIS controller. She added that these events probably caused a certain amount of stress that could have contributed to the occurrence.