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Cuers-Pierrefeu Airport, Pierrefeu-du-Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur -
France
Phase:
Landing
Nature:
Private
Departure airport:
Maribo aerodrome, Lolland, Denmark (MRW/EKMB)
Destination airport:
Cuers-Pierrefeu Airport Pierrefeu-du-Var, France (LFTF)
Investigating agency:
BEA
Confidence Rating:
Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative: On 10 February 2012, a Socata TBM700B D-FALF landed next to the runway after the aircraft entered an area with heavy snowfall while on a VFR final approach to runway 11 at Cuers-Pierrefeu Airport Pierrefeu-du-Var, Var Department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (LFTF). The three occupants - presumed to be the pilot and two passengers - received minor injuries: they were transported by ambulance to the hospital in Hyères.
Contemporary press reports did not name the three on board, but stated that they were all German Nationals: "A 63 year old man from Hamburg, his 21 year old son and another passenger from the Schleswig-Holstein Norderstedt region". According to a translation from French into English of the official BEA report into the accident (see link #1):
"The pilot took off at around 14:45 from Maribo aerodrome (Lolland, Denmark) bound for Cuers-Pierrefeu. He filed an IFR flight plan that he cancelled at 17:15 near the St Tropez VOR. He explained that he had overflown the installations at Cuers at 1,500 ft and started an aerodrome circuit via the north for runway 11. He was visual with the ground and noted the presence of snow showers. He reckoned that these conditions made it possible to continue the approach.
At about 600 feet, he went into a snow shower. At about 400 feet, he noticed that the horizontal visibility was zero and that he had lost all external visual references. He tried to make a go-around but didn’t feel any increase in engine power. At about 200 feet, he saw that he was to the right of the runway and decided to make an emergency landing. The aeroplane struck the ground on the right side of the runway. It slid for 150 metres and swung around before stopping.
BEA CONCLUSION:
The accident was linked to the pilot’s to continue his approach under VFR, even though the meteorological conditions made it impossible. Coming out of an area of thick snowfall at 200 feet, he was unable to control the bank angle or the flight path of the aeroplane. The investigation was unable to determine if this bank angle was linked to inadequate control during an attempt to go around without external visual references, or a late attempt to reach the centre of the runway. Overconfidence in his abilities to pass through a snow shower, as well as a determination to land, may have contributed to the accident."