French Pilot Convicted for Accidental Fatality Involving Skydiver's Wing Strike
A 64-year-old French pilot receives one-year suspended prison sentence for unintentionally causing a skydiver's death with his plane's wing mid-jump, as confirmed by a court in Montauban, France
A 64-year-old French pilot has been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended, after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for causing the death of a skydiver with his airplane's wing during a jump. The incident occurred in July 2018 over the town of Bouloc, near Toulouse, in the southwest of France, according to a report from the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety in 2020.
The report stated that a few seconds after the first wingsuit skydiver jumped out of the plane, a collision occurred between the skydiver and the aircraft's left wing. The wingsuit skydiver unfortunately died upon impact.
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Ten skydivers and one coach were on board the Swiss-made Pilatus PC-6 aircraft. According to the report, the 40-year-old male victim was the first to jump out of the plane. The pilot believed he had veered away from the path of the skydivers after making a left turn. However, moments later, he felt a strong impact and realized that he had collided with one of the skydivers, as stated in the report.
The report stated that the second skydiver had a camera and recorded the entire crash. Several factors may have led to the crash, such as the skydivers and pilot not having a thorough on-board briefing, and the pilot's sudden steep descent without visual contact with the wingsuit skydivers.
At the time of the accident, the 58-year-old pilot was flying alone, violating his medical certificate which prohibited solo flights, as stated in the report. The Midi-Pyrénées Skydiving School Association, the organizer of the event and the pilot's employer at the time, informed the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety that they had updated their documentation and implemented suggested safety measures, according to records.
The court has also imposed a one-year flying ban on the pilot. A report from the National Mountain Safety Observation System revealed that 13 people died during wingsuit skydives in France from 2015 to 2020.
