Accident to the Shark identified 44BDO on 12/05/2023 at Saint-Pierre-Roche

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After a stay in Corsica, three pilots including the pilot of 44BDO, took off bound for Avignon-Caumont aerodrome, each aboard his own microlight.

At Avignon, the pilots separated, the first two pilots (1 and 2) took off bound for Le Havre while the pilot of 44BDO took off bound for La Baule.

Pilot 1, who pilot 2 and the pilot of 44BDO relied on for the analysis of the weather conditions, considered that the flights were feasible with probable difficulties over the Massif Central. Furthermore, the weather conditions on the following days were not as good.

Pilots 1 and 2 were obliged to divert to Mende and Vichy respectively. Pilot 1 who was flying between two cloud layers, progressively climbed to FL 090 while pilot 2 who was flying on top climbed to FL 125.

The pilot of 44BDO mainly flew between FL 080 and FL 095, probably between two cloud layers. In the last five minutes of the flight, the pilot began a climb towards FL 125 and then lost control, probably in the absence of external visual references, in a TCU or even CB cloud. The pilot did not regain control of the microlight which ruptured in flight, the speed very probably having become excessive. The pilot did not use the airframe parachute during the fall.

Given the pilot's state of health and the flight time spent at altitude, a deterioration in the pilot's performance could explain the failure to regain control of the microlight and the failure to use the airframe parachute.

Lastly, icing of the microlight in the cloud layer cannot be ruled out. It may have contributed to the loss of control of the microlight and/or compromised the recovery of control of the microlight.

General information

Local date	12/05/2023
Responsible entity	France - BEA
State or area of occurrence	France - 63 Puy-de-Dôme
Location	Saint-Pierre-Roche
Human consequences	Fatal
Number of death	1
Aircraft consequences	Destroyed
Occurrence class	Accident
Occurence category	LOC-I: Loss of control - inflight, UIMC: Unintended flight in IMC
File number	BEA2023-0155

Flight Information

Aircraft category	Microlight - Microlight-Class 3-Fixed wing
Operator	France - Private Operator
Manufacturer / Model	OTHER (Shark Aero Shark UL)
Aircraft Registration	44BDO
State of registry	France
Last departure point	France - LFMV (AVN): Avignon Caumont
Planned destination	France - LFRE (LBY): La Baule Escoublac
Flight phase	En route
Serial number
Operator Type AG	Private owner
Operation Type	Non-Commercial Operations - Pleasure - Cross Country

BEA is the French air safety investigation authority for civil aviation. The sole objective of the investigation is to improve air safety. It is intended neither to apportion blame nor to assess responsiblity.

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