According to the flight instructor, during the turn from base to final, the Beech F33’s stall warning horn sounded and the descent rate increased.
The CFI reported he told the student pilot to go-around, and the student increased power, but the plane continued to descend and touched down on the runway at the airport in Marana, Arizona, briefly.
He reported the student then tried to “pull” the airplane off of the runway and either failed to apply sufficient right rudder, or accidentally applied left rudder, and the plane abruptly yawed to the left.
The flight instructor said he immediately took control of the plane, which exited the runway to the left.
The CFI recounted that the plane continued accelerating a few feet off of the ground. He reported that the left main landing gear hit the ground, and the “left wing tip must have scraped” the ground at that instant.
He regained control of the airplane, initiated a climb, and executed a go-around.
He also contacted the pilot of an airplane that was holding short of the runway and asked him to look at the landing gear as he made a low pass. The pilot on the ground confirmed that the landing gear was intact.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left aileron.
Probable cause: The student pilot’s failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during the base to final turn, resulting in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall and impact with terrain during recovery by the flight instructor.
NTSB Identification: GAA16CA013
This October 2015 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
The second the stall horn sounded in the base to final turn the instructor should have taken control, added power to maintain altitude and aborted the landing.
Always expect the student to do the in-expected.
Cause was the instructions, inadequate supervision and delay in taking control, F33 is not an airplane that you can allow to get ahead of a student.
Were you there?
John is right. An F33 will always be ahead of a student. Back in the 50’s and 60’s the USAF trained pilots in the T34 which is basically the same airplane as the F33 so it can be done but the IP has to be really sharp on the airplane for the first few hours. It’s not a difficult airplane to fly but it is a complex airplane and will get going downhill fast if the pilot gets behind with power and airspeed.