Crash of a Partenavia P.68C in Strasbourg: 2 killed
Date & Time:
Nov 7, 1983 at 1135 LT
Operator:
Registration:
HB-LNK
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Strasbourg - Paris
MSN:
224
YOM:
1982
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Captain / Total hours on type:
187.00
Aircraft flight hours:
193
Circumstances:
The twin engine aircraft departed Strasbourg-Entzheim Airport on a private flight to Paris-Le Bourget, carrying one pilot and one passenger. After takeoff from runway 23, while in initial climb, the aircraft crossed the clouds twice then entered a nose-down attitude and crashed one km from the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The loss of control seems to be essentially due to the spatial disorientation from which the pilot must have suffered when entering the cloud layer only a few seconds after rotation, disorientation which led him to follow an erratic trajectory both in heading and in altitude. This disorientation can be explained by the pilot's non-qualification for IFR flights and his lack of experience in IMC conditions. The assumption of a malfunction of the autopilot system causing the aircraft to perform inappropriate maneuvers that the pilot would have been unable to counter cannot be ruled out, although the pilot was aware of the dysfunction of this equipment.
Final Report:
