I'm out of touch with the allowed MTOW of the Airvan but 1814 I seem to remember was the original MTOW. That has been increased since. So it's unlikely a factor in the accident. In terms of CofG. When empty or light in Airvan you'd run out trim and have to hold back pressure on approach. To me that implied it was designed to be slightly nose heavy. Further confirmation of that was the fact we always asked one of skydivers to sit on the step at the rear because it helped stability.
As oggers said the stall is benign and the warning horn comes on much too early. I was only caught out once when all the skydivers rushed the door simultaneously without briefing me. But it was easy to recover from and also remember ailerons can be used right through the stall. It essentially mushes downward.
While a botched stall recovery is a possible cause. I return to the idea of a spiral dive through VNE possibly because of a distraction or spatial disorientation. It happened to me. I turned to talk to a skydiver. When I looked back the airspeed was in the yellow and the VSI was pegged at it's limit. Instant disorientation. I reduced power, levelled the wings and eased very gently out of the dive having now entered cloud. Then I started breathing again. The crew in the back noticed nothing. Boy did I feel stupid. A panicked pull and the story might have been quite different.
Someone asked about the AADs. They will fire at a predetermined rate of descent below a set altitude. That can vary, student rigs have a more conservative setting. In fact I was in the back wearing a student rig on a ferry flight when the pilot forgot and dived off the altitude. There was a bang and I was surrounded by canopy. He was mortally embarrassed. But I could have deactivated it if I'd known he was about to play fighter pilot.
The skydivers were probably pinned to the floor or ceiling by the time the AADs fired. No chance.
The pilot I note had only 12 hours on type and 214 in total. No mention of an instrument rating. Maybe it was the first time he found himself in the conditions he encountered that day.
An odd comment in the report. It mentions standard procedure is to close the cowl flaps before the descent. The Airvan doesn't have cowl flaps.
Also no mention of cameras, no GoPros? That would be a surprise.
Last edited by Steepclimb; 7th Oct 2019 at 18:52.