DA40NG Ditched into the sea near Calvi (Austro AE300 engine failures)

Oosterhuis wrote:

As for ‘Why send a mirage’. We all have to have our hours. So do the Mirage pilots. Incidents like this is a good emergency practice.

Also, from what I understood, the mirage was already up in the air and close by (well, maybe not that close, but in a Mirage…) which meant that it could be in the area quite quickly. Not sure if they would have dispatched one specifically for this case…

The video says the Mirage was already in the air, so you’re quite right !

I can assure you I have witnessed first hand the positivity that having an aeroplane or helicopter overhead will have on people in a life raft even if the aircraft in question is not able to perform a rescue. It means someone is coming.

Regards, SD..

Is there any plan for salvaging the wreck at least for the accident cause analysis?

It’s under 2km of water.

You’re right – Ligurian sea is deepest in that area, more than 2800 m.

Submarine Minerve took 50+ years to be found on the sea bed.

There was a gripping interview of the pilots in the June Info-Pilote. The main point of the conclusion is that the crew and especially the instructor made all the right decisions.
The points I found interesting:

• They weren’t wearing lifejackets
• The instructor had spent 10 years as cabin crew so could don a lifejacket and help others blindfolded, and knew how to operate the raft
• The landing was very good to not flip over
• The aircraft sank in under 3 minutes
• The three of them worked together perfectly as a team

The article for French-speakers:

Merci.
Incredible a fighter jet found them in the ocean, their pilots have good eyes !
The DA40 offers good exit options for egress.
A shame we will never know what happened to this engine.

@Capitaine, do they know what the problem was?