Pilatus PC-6 (Porter & Turbo Porter) crash, Nov 1, 1997 (9 killed)
Pilatus PC-6 (Porter & Turbo Porter) accident on November 1, 1997 near Laon-Chambry, Aisne, France with 9 fatalities. Cause: Loss of pitch control...
- Date: November 1, 1997
- Aircraft: Pilatus PC-6 (Porter & Turbo Porter)
- Location: Laon-Chambry, Aisne, France
- Fatalities: 9
- Phase of flight: Takeoff and climb
- Cause: Loss of pitch control after aerodynamic locking of the elevator at full nose-down stabilizer; the pilot was not familiar with this phenomenon and had limited experience on the type.
The PC-6 skydiving aircraft climbed out from Laon and rolled right into an uncontrolled descent about 1,500 m from the airfield. The investigation found that the pilot's inputs produced aerodynamic locking of the elevator when the stabilizer was in full nose-down position. All nine occupants were killed.