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Date: | Monday 15 December 1975 |
Time: | |
Type: | Pilatus PC-6/A-H2 Turbo Porter |
Owner/operator: | Centre-Ecole de Parachutisme du Nivernais |
Registration: | F-BRPJ |
MSN: | 552 |
Year of manufacture: | 1963 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Cluny -
France
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
Departure airport: | LFQG |
Destination airport: | LFLE |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:While ferrying the aircraft from Nevers to Chambéry for regular maintenance at Air Alpes facility, the pilot mostly skilled in parachute jumping activity but with less experience in cross-country flying and without the necessary instrument flying skills, got trapped in bad weather.
This was early December with typical weather for this time of the year and location.
VFR conditions were prevailing at the points of departure and arrival.
Instead of climbing above the bad weather (unlimited ceiling and visibility above FL100) and ask for a VFR alternate (and there were a few around for a Turbo Porter) he decided to proceed under the low stratus and hit the very top of the mountain covered with small fir trees and fresh snow. The pilot survived with minor injuries (teeth broken and few scratches) and was found close to the wreckage among fir trees. The plane was destroyed, the turbine went trough the cockpit.
Luckily for the pilot, the plane had plenty of jet-fuel in its tank but no fire or explosion followed the crash
Sources:
http://www.pc-6.com/history/552.htm As President of the Centre-Ecole de Parachutisme Nivernais, as a pilot myself and owner of the aircraft ( through a lease to own financing program) I have been part of the investigation that followed the crash.
The pilot was dismissed for this basic pilot error.
Images:
Above Cluny, at the crash site.
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
23-Nov-2010 14:58 |
TB |
Added |
10-Nov-2015 07:19 |
PatrickW |
Updated [Operator, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Photo, ] |