Accident to the Ultramagic S-90 registered F-HURE on 20/09/2019 at Saint-Denis-sur-Loire (Loir et Cher)
Blessure d’un passager lors de l'atterrissage, lors d’un vol à titre onéreux
The pilot, accompanied by two passengers, took off at about 19:00 from an area next to a hotel where the passengers had been staying, for a sightseeing flight over the Loire river.
The pilot indicated that, after about 40 minutes of flight at a speed of about 16 to 18 km/h, he selected a ploughed field large enough to land in. During his pre-landing briefing, he reminded the passengers of the landing procedures, emphasizing that they should position themselves along the walls, bend their knees, keep their legs flexible, and hold onto the handles. He positioned the passengers in the basket and informed them that the landing could be "rough".
The wind conditions caused the basket to tilt during the landing, destabilizing its occupants despite the proper application of safety procedures. In this context, the pilot, who was carrying out the landing actions, inadvertently stepped on the passenger’s left leg, causing a fracture to her ankle and at the base of the tibia.