The pilot who died in Beja tried to open his parachute after the collision

The Spanish pilot who died on Sunday during the Beja air festival tried to deploy his parachute after colliding with another plane during an aerobatics display, but the equipment failed to deploy due to the low altitude.

“The pilot left the aircraft in flight and began the process of deploying the parachute,” the GPIAAF said in an information note (NI) issued this Wednesday.

According to the same document, “due to the low altitude to the ground, the parachute canopy did not open and for this reason no action was taken to slow down the pilot, which led to his immediate death.”

NI, accessed by Lusa, reports that on Sunday at 14:45 an aerobatic team consisting of six historical Yak-52 aircraft took off from Beja Air Base 11 (BA11) for its exhibition number as part of the air festival Beja Airshow, organized by the Portuguese Air Force (FAP), which took place this weekend.

This aerobatic team forms the Iberian patrol Yakstars, consisting of six aircraft with Portuguese and Spanish pilots.

“After completing the sequence of maneuvers planned for both days of the festival, in preparation for the final sequence, characterized by the separation of one of the six aircraft for a single demonstration flight and the remaining five being removed, the aircraft that was flying in position 5 began its final sequence, not maintaining separation from the group, colliding with the aircraft flying at position 3,” explains the GPIAAF.

According to this organization, “as a result of the aircraft collision, the rear fuselage of 5 aircraft was damaged.” [a que originou o acidente]which renders the entire tail section unusable, leading to the inevitable loss of control of the aircraft.”

“The fall at a steep angle and in an inverted position caused a violent impact with the ground followed by an explosion,” the organization added.

The aircraft in position 3, which suffered from the impact, “lost its propeller, left landing gear and a significant portion of the leading edge of the left wing.”

“Feeling a lack of thrust and having difficulty lateral control of the aircraft, the pilot immediately began a slow flight towards the runway and eventually landed. Despite the inverted final position of the plane, as a result of sudden braking, the absence of the left landing gear and the fracture of the nose landing gear, the pilot left the plane independently and without injuries, and was taken to the hospital in the city of Beja as a precaution,” says N.I.

Taking into account the circumstances and location of the incident, national legislation provides that the investigation will be conducted by a mixed commission consisting of the GPIAAF and the FAP.

“Given the context in which the heritage civilly registered aircraft was operated, both organizations agreed that it would be more appropriate for the Air Force Central Accident Investigation Commission to lead the investigation,” the statement said.