Final Report
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Technical report ULM-A-007/2020 ______________________________ Accident on the 21 June 2020, involving a Tecnam P2002 SIERRA aircraft, registration EC-FM8, in the municipality of Aibar (Navarra) Please note that this report is not presented in its final layout and therefore it could include minor errors or need type corrections, but not related to its content. The final layout with its NIPO included (Identification Number for Official Publications) will substitute the present report when available. Notice This report is a technical document that reflects the point of view of the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission regarding the circumstances of the accident object of the investigation, its probable causes and its consequences. In accordance with the provisions in Article 5.4.1 of Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Convention; and with Articles 5.5 of Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010; Article 15 of Law 21/2003 on Air Safety; and Articles 1, 4 and 21.2 of RD 389/1998, this investigation is exclusively of a technical nature, and its objective is the prevention of future aviation accidents and incidents by issuing, if necessary, safety recommendations to prevent their recurrence. The investigation is not intended to attribute any blame or liability, nor to prejudge any decisions that may be taken by the judicial authorities. Therefore, and according to the laws detailed above, the investigation was carried out using procedures not necessarily subject to the guarantees and rights by which evidence should be governed in a judicial process. Consequently, the use of this report for any purpose other than the prevention of future accidents may lead to erroneous conclusions or interpretations. ii CONTENTS Notice ........................................................................................................................... ii CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. iii ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ iv Synopsis ....................................................................................................................... v 1. FACTUAL INFORMATION .................................................................................... 6 1.1 History of the flight .................................................................................................. 6 Injuries to persons ........................................................................................................ 7 1.3 Damage to the aircraftt............................................................................................ 7 1.4 Other damage ......................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Information about the personnel .............................................................................. 7 1.5.1 Information about the crew of the aircraft ............................................................. 7 1.6 Aircraft information ............................................................................................. 7 1.6.2 Maintenance information................................................................................. 8 1.7 Meteorological information ...................................................................................... 9 1.8 Aids to navigation.................................................................................................. 10 1.9 Communications ................................................................................................... 10 1.10 Aerodrome information ........................................................................................ 10 1.11 Flight recorders ................................................................................................... 11 1.12 Aircraft wreckage and impact information ............................................................ 12 1.13 Medical and pathological information .................................................................. 14 1.14 Fire ..................................................................................................................... 14 1.15 Survival aspects .................................................................................................. 14 1.16 Tests and research .......................................................................................... 14 1.16.1 Interview with the pilot ...................................................................................... 14 1.17 Organisational and management information ...................................................... 16 1.18 Additional information ......................................................................................... 16 1.19 Useful or effective investigation techniques ......................................................... 16 2. ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Of the weather conditions ..................................................................................... 16 2.2 Of the operation .................................................................................................... 16 3. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................. 17 3.1 Confirmed findings ................................................................................................ 17 3.2 Causes/contributing factors ................................................................................... 17 4. OPERATIONAL SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................. 19 iii ABBREVIATIONS % Per cent C Degrees Celsius AEMET Spain’s State Meteorological Agency AESA Spain’s National Aviation Safety Agency AGL Above ground level CV Metric horsepower DGAC Civil Aviation General Directorate ft Feet(s) GPS Global Positioning System h Hours hPa Hectopascal kg Kilogrammes km Kilometres km/h Kilometres per hour LAPL Light Aircraft Pilot Licence LT Local time m Metres MAF Multi-axis fixed-wing Aviation routine weather report (in aeronautical meteorological METAR code) min Minutes Altimeter setting to obtain elevation above sea level when on the QNH ground rpm Revolutions per minute TULM Ultralight Aircraft Pilot License ULM Motorised ultralight aircraft UTC Coordinated universal time VFR Visual flight rules VFE Maximum flaps-extended speed iv Synopsis Operator: Private. Aircraft: Tecnam P2002 Sierra Date and time of accident: 21 June 2020, 12:31 LT1 Site of accident: Municipality of Aibar (Navarra) Persons on board: 1 seriously injured and 1 unharmed. Type of flight: General Aviation - Private. Phase of flight: En route - cruising Type of operation VFR Date of approval: 28/04/2021 Summary of incident: On 21 June 2020, the Tecnam P2002 SIERRA aircraft, registration EC-FM8, suffered an accident while carrying out an emergency off-airfield landing due to an in-flight engine power loss. The aircraft had taken off from Tudela Aerodrome (Navarra) to carry out a local round-trip flight with two occupants on board. During the cruise phase of the flight, the aircraft suffered an engine stoppage that led to the pilot making an emergency landing in a cereal crop field. After landing, the aircraft travelled over the terrain until its nose leg collapsed, causing the aircraft to slide along the ground until it finally flipped over. The pilot incurred serious injuries, but the passenger was unharmed. The aircraft sustained significant damage. The investigation has determined the cause of the accident was the emergency off-airfield landing carried out as a result of inadequate fuel management that led to an in-flight engine stoppage. 1 Unless specified otherwise, all times in this report are local. On the day of the incident, local time was equivalent to UTC+2 hours. v Technical report ULM-A-007/2020 1. FACTUAL INFORMATION 1.1 History of the flight At 11:49 h on 21 June 2020, the TECNAM Sierra P2002 aircraft, with registration EC-FM8, took off from Tudela Aerodrome for a local flight within the Sangüesa region of the Autonomous Community of Navarra with a pilot and a passenger on board. They intended to make a recreational 1 h and 15 min flight to the Yesa reservoir, with a 35 min outward journey, a 10 min flight over the reservoir and a 30 min return journey. During the pre-flight inspection, the pilot checked the fuel level on the cockpit gauges. The gauges showed that both tanks were approximately 50% full, representing about 3 hours of flight autonomy when cruising at 75% power. Forty-two minutes into the flight, having flown over the Yesa reservoir and on the way back to the departure aerodrome, the engine stopped. After several unsuccessful attempts to start the engine, the pilot decided to focus on making an emergency landing. Despite flying over and perpendicular to a potential landing strip (Sangüesa’s old runway), the pilot decided it was too risky to make the sharp turns that would be required to line up with the runway and opted to land in a cereal field located slightly to the right of his path instead. After flying over a high voltage line that ran across the chosen field, the aircraft landed without flaps at a speed of approximately 90 km/h. After taxiing for 40 m, the nose leg collapsed, and the aircraft flipped over. The