Picking up VFR mountain flying

It’s easy to be wise after the event …

Alex Combes is taking his place as the main instructor of Aeroclub des 3 Vallées. Great guy to fly with. Never had the opportunity to meet Robert.

WillC wrote:

When they tried to land which was inevitably going to be a crash they hit a wall of snow which was in a shaded area and was probably not obvious to them.

What I find particularly tragic: It appears that they probably would have made it, had they landed in an area with better light conditions, or landed down in Méribel or the valley floor. :(

Zorg wrote:

They hit a rock on take-off, probably due to a gust, likely lost steering control, and crashed subsequently

One of the skis was rotated 90 degress or so and went through the wing which also punctured one of the fuel tanks. When they tried to land which was inevitably going to be a crash they hit a wall of snow which was in a shaded area and was probably not obvious to them. As you say very sad and a reminder of the fragility of life. I had flown into Courchevel in late January 2007 and waited to say hello to Robert before I left, he was out flying – I’m glad that I did.

Very sad accident. This was the only field where I felt uncomfortable and sketchy, even with an extremely experienced MOU instructor (in summer).

For the interested, here is the final BEA report. (They hit a rock on take-off, probably due to a gust, likely lost steering control, and crashed subsequently.)

Zorg wrote:

The toughest altisurface I’ve been during my training was probably Val Thorens (narrow, uneven ground, metal poles and fence on both sides, curved, ditch, high elevation, topology). Most instructors wouldn’t go there in summer. Yikes!

That was where Robert Christin had his fatal accident in February 2007

The easiest altiport is probably La Motte-Chalancon (LFJE) if you can land on gravel / grass — long, wide, not very sloped, and quite simple approach. Otherwise, Megève (LFHM) is quite easy, wide, long, with small slope.

The toughest altisurface I’ve been during my training was probably Val Thorens (narrow, uneven ground, metal poles and fence on both sides, curved, ditch, high elevation, topology). Most instructors wouldn’t go there in summer. Yikes!

The most beautiful one for me is just opposite of Megève: St Roch Mayères (the place of the “handstand” video posted above). Amazing view of Mont Blanc, and good food.

The landing at Courchevel and other altiports is not that complicated once you get “the hang of it” but difficult to start with. In the past, there was no requirement for formal training to fly to Courchevel and the results were evident: in the tower of Courchevel there is a photo album filled with all the crashes and accidents that occurred over the years at Courchevel Altiport. Since they require you to have at least a site license or a mountain rating, the number of accidents occurring there have significantly dropped.

Peter wrote:

How is the need for a rating determined? For example I don’t see what is difficult about Courchevel; there are lots of other tricky airports which don’t require any kind of rating. There are plenty of farm strips where you can’t do a go-around from the runway because you would hit trees.

Also see the French AIP, section AD 1.8 for regulations about altiports and altisurfaces (as well as a current list of them).

Peter wrote:

I’ve never done any of this but would I be right in that you need a suitable plane i.e. a taildragger with decent main wheels?

Yes to go most of these sites a tail dragger would be what I’d want. I did mine in a Jodel Mousquetaire which was a very capable machine. I think a TB20 into the surfaced altiports such as Megeve and Alpes d’Huez would be doable but I wouldn’t take mine to say Meribel. There’s a video of two high hours pilots doing a wheels up landing at Megeve in a TB20 that is shown at safety evenings.

Peter wrote:

How is the need for a rating determined? For example I don’t see what is difficult about Courchevel; there are lots of other tricky airports which don’t require any kind of rating. There are plenty of farm strips where you can’t do a go-around from the runway because you would hit trees.

Not sure how the need for a rating is determined by the authorities and places like Courcehvel don’t have restrictions for ultra lights. The issue for places like Courchevel is that there is a 12% slope to start with followed by an 18% slope and no chance of a go around – it has caught out a lot of pilots. Some of our training was to surfaces of 30% or so. As a pilot you obviously see the restrictions in the AIP.

Last few times I was there in my own airplane (which, with what would pass for tact in the Île-de-France, they graciously nick-named “la grosse merde”), but I think that the aeroclub policy is still that an IM in the right seat is on the MEL for a Megeve D140 for all but a few very experienced club members.

They had a run of accidents a few years ago which temporarily depleted their fleet of “cagettes a pommes”, so this policy may have been forced upon them by insurers. Fortunately the type seems to carry 3 or 4 persons with ease at any DA up to about 12k.

Of course, there are times when an instructor is powerless to prevent a wee fender-bender: