ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 230257
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 October 2008 |
| Time: | 17:09 LT |
| Type: | Dassault-Breguet Super Ètendard |
| Owner/operator: | French Aéronavale flotille 11 F |
| Registration: | 49 |
| MSN: | 50 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | off coast, 15 kms North Roscoff, Bretagne -
 France
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | BAN Landivisiau Airbase |
| BAN Landivisiau Airbase | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Mid-air-collision with Super Etendard 38 crashed into the water.
Lieutenant Sébastien Lhéritier, 36, the victim of the air crash, was an experienced pilot with around 3,000 flying hours.
SYNOPSIS BEA-é:
Date of occurrence: 1 October 2008 17:09.
Location of the incident: 15 km north of Roscoff (Finistère).
Organisation: French Navy.
Organic command: naval aviation force command.
Units: Centre d'entrainement et d'instruction au pilotage de la marine (CEIPM);
-
11F flotilla.
Aircraft: Super Etendard Modernis (SEM) standard IV n 38 and 49.
Nature of the flight: training mission, manoeuvring four aircraft.
Number of people on board: one pilot per aircraft.
Summary of the flight according to the first information collected
A patrol of four SEMs carries out a training mission over the sea about 10 Nm north of Roscoff. This mission is carried out within the 11F squadron, for the benefit of two trainee pilots from the CEIPM fighter transformation section.
After 41 minutes of flight, flying at around 10,000 feet, the formation performed a manoeuvre in the oblique plane to the left. Aircraft number 4 is in the left manoeuvre position 50 metres from aircraft number 3. At the top of the pattern, approaching low speeds, aircraft 3 and 4 collide.
After the impact, aircraft number 4 rolls rapidly, nose down. The pilot was unable to control the aircraft or read the altimeter and threw himself out. Under sail, accompanied by the breakers, he saw a burning aircraft fall into the sea at his feet.
A few moments after the collision, the leader saw in the rear view mirror two sets of flaming objects behind him and to the left. He turns around and observes directly:
- He turns around and directly observes: - From a distance of between one and two kilometres, debris that he associates with aircraft number 3 and 4 of his patrol;
-closer to him by 500 metres and at a lower altitude than his own, the dome of a parachute which he then loses in sight;
-among the broken objects, the presence of a twirling orange object.
He immediately requests a rescue mission.
The pilot of aircraft number 4 lands and boards his lifeboat. He was rescued an hour and a quarter later. Injured, he was evacuated to the regional university hospital in Brest.
A possible death of the pilot of the third plane was not observed. His body, bloody on his seat, was recovered on 12 October.
3. CONCLUSION
3.1. established elements useful for understanding the event
-
The event occurs during a four aircraft manoeuvre in the oblique plane.
-
The mission was carried out in accordance with the directives of the regulation for the standardisation of procedures in fighter fleets, without any constraint of departure.
-
The weather conditions did not present any particularity likely to affect the safety of the mission.
-
The characteristics of the evolutions undertaken during the flight allowed each crew member to maintain his position without excessive difficulty considering the level of technicality pursued during their training.
-
The behaviour of the aircraft was not indicative of a loss of control.
-
Carmin 4 testifies that he did not lose control of his aircraft.
-
Carmin 4 experienced difficulties in appreciating positions and dynamics related to relative flight on a recurrent basis during his training.
3.2.
Causes of the event
The approach of the aircraft may have been favoured by :
-
an erroneous appreciation of the relative movements of the aircraft by the pilot of aircraft No. 4, leading him to adopt a trajectory that was too far inland from that of the aircraft in front of him;
-
the limited distance between aircraft No. 3 and No. 4 at the beginning of the figure;
-
Carmin 4's incitement to adopt a trajectory that is too far inland, following the remarks made by Carmin 2;
-
an abrupt manoeuvre by aircraft n 3;
-
an imbalance in Carmin 3's attentional resources at the expense of monitoring aircraft 4, during a phase of flight when his attention naturally favours monitoring the trajectory of aircraft 2.
In the probable case of a positive or zero separation held by aircraft No. 4, the avoidance manoeuvre carried out by No. 4 did not make it possible to avoid the collision.
The limited spacing between the aircraft at the start of the barrel and the position of aircraft No. 4 too far inland from the path of aircraft No. 3 may also have contributed to the failure of the avoidance attempt.
It is possible that Carmin 4 progressed during the transformation course without the basic safety and formation flying skills having been consolidated. The tolerance induced by the scoring criteria may have allowed this progress.
BEAD-air
Sources:
Scramble
https://www.aircrash.info/ac.php?nr=001&V=
https://www.letelegramme.fr/gratuit/generales/regions/bretagne/crash-le-ministre-rend-hommage-sebastien-lheritier-20081004-3922224_1484301.php
https://www.letelegramme.fr/ig/generales/regions/finistere/roscoff-des-debris-de-super-etendard-repeches-20-02-2009-257412.php
BEA-é Report:
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/english/content/download/523614/8775810/M-2008-014-A.pdf
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2019 09:25 | TB | Added |
| 05-Oct-2020 19:11 | TB | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 29-Jul-2021 10:26 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Photo] |
| 29-Jul-2021 10:27 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Photo] |
| 29-Jul-2021 10:29 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source] |
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