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

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.

Above Cluny, at the crash site.

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, ]