ASN Aircraft accident Cessna 208 Caravan I D-FLIC Säntis Mountain
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Wednesday 30 March 2022
Time:12:23
Type:Silhouette image of generic C208 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Cessna 208 Caravan I
Operating for:Skydive Costa d'Argento
Registration: D-FLIC
MSN: 20800274
First flight: 1998
Crew:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Säntis Mountain (   Switzerland)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Siegen-Siegerland Airport (SGE/EDGS), Germany
Destination airport:Arezzo (LIQB), Italy
Narrative:
A Cessna 208 Caravan I, D-FLIC, was destroyed when it impacted the side of a mountain. The pilot suffered fatal injuries.

On 29 March 2022, the day before the accident, the pilot was flying the Cessna 208, registered as D-FLIC, from Costa d’Argento Airfield in Italy to the Siegerland Airport (EDSG) for maintenance. He flew over the Säntis massif under visual flight rules at an altitude of approximately 8200 ft AMSL and on the same route as on the day of the accident, namely on the direct connecting line between the waypoints PELAD and DEGES provided for flights under instrument flight rules.

On 30 March 2022 at 09:02 UTC, the pilot took off in the Cessna 208 from EDSG on a visual flight to the airport Arezzo (LIQB) in Italy. At 10:19 UTC, he passed the waypoint DEGES at 5400 ft AMSL. He was in radio contact with FIC Zurich, which had instructed him to remain under the Zurich terminal area (TMA). This airspace has a lower limit of 7500 ft AMSL at DEGES.
After passing DEGES, the pilot flew as planned in the direction of waypoint PELAD and at 10:19:31 UTC the FIC informed him that the maximum permitted altitude for visual flights without authorisation to enter controlled airspace was now flight level 130: "D-IC, report Bad Ragaz and now maximum flight level 130 possible". The pilot replied with "Roger, will report [unreadable] can you confirm start um higher?" and wanted to make sure that he could now climb, which the FIC confirmed at 10:19:43 UTC with "D-IC affirm, you may continue climb up to maximum flight level
130". The pilot then replied: "Roger, copied".
The rate of climb averaged around 550 ft/min. At 10:23 UTC, the aircraft collided with the northern flank of the Grüehorn in the Säntis massif at an altitude of 6800 ft AMSL on an unchanged flight path and flying in clouds.

Probable Cause:

Causes
The accident in which the aircraft collided with the terrain was due to the continuation of a visual flight under instrument meteorological conditions

Accident investigation:

Investigating agency: STSB Switzerland
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 8 months
Accident number: 2415
Download report: Final report

Classification:
VFR flight in IMC
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain

Sources:
» www.tagblatt.ch
» flightaware.com


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line is connecting ADS-B datapoints from FlightAware.
Distance from Siegen-Siegerland Airport to Arezzo as the crow flies is 849 km (530 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Cessna 208

  • 3000+ built
  • 267th loss
  • 140th fatal accident
  • 87th worst accident (at the time)
  • 93rd worst accident (currently)
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 Switzerland
  • 25th worst accident
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