The solo student pilot reported that, during approach to the airport in Vero Beach, Florida, he was above the glideslope after adding full flaps, so he lowered the nose to lose altitude.
He added that he “brought a little more speed than intended” into ground effect and the Piper PA-28 yawed to the left.
He overcorrected to the right.
The airplane touched down to the right of the runway centerline with the nose pointed 45° to the left.
The student attempted to maintain directional control, but the airplane exited the runway to the right and the right wing hit a runway sign.
The student pilot taxied back onto the runway and to the parking ramp without further incident.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing.
The chief flight instructor of the flight school reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
The automated weather observation station on the airport reported that, about 37 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 360° at 6 knots. The same automated station reported that, about 23 minutes after the accident, the wind was from 030° at 11 knots, gusting to 17 knots. The airplane landed on Runway 04.
Probable cause: The student pilot’s failure to maintain a stabilized approach, which resulted in overcorrection with the rudder during the landing, loss of control, and a runway excursion.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA204
This March 2018 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.
Had a CFI sign off my girlfriend for solo. I took her out on a flight well away from town that would result in a straight in landing upon returning.
Gave her the plane for the trip back. i took the plane back at 50 ft off the deck, 1200 rpm, and still not reaching for the throttle. Problem was we were two miles from the runway.
Rote instruction doesn’t work well when your turn to base is at the mailbox with the bird on it.
Her call if she still wanted to solo, my call was FBO rental because it wasn’t going to be in my plane.
The feet are often ignored. Many pilot’s from student to ATP look at an angle since the true axis is ahead and not across the scowling.
A crabbed approach isn’t recognize because the pilot was never taught where to look.
On first flight a grease pencil that is used to put crosshairs directly in front that also shows longitudinal and pitch attitude is a great training aid.
Another directional control issue. Seems to be a major problem with flt. training.
If things go screwy
Coming down,
There’s always time
To go around!
WELL, one point for getting all the pieces back to the parking area!
Taught*
I was thought , pitch for speed, power for altitude.
Whoever was teaching this person to fly should be FIRED. !
If high on final; reduce power to increase the descent rate. If that’s not enough a slip will lose a lot of altitude.
Oh, and learn to use the rudder.
Never lower the nose and gain airspeed….
You a CFI? Mine told me he learned more about flying in the first 6 months of teaching (full time) than he had learned up to that point. Think about that for a moment, all the stuff for private, instrument, commercial and then CFI…
One thing I have learned about teaching (I teach computer stuff) is, students will ask you things you never thought of and you will wonder from where do they get these questions.
That said, I’ve decided to NOT become a CFI because I remember many dumb stunts that I committed and we lived to tell about them, and none of those bent metal (not for lack of trying 😉 ). But, I tried to kill both of us a few times — not intentionally, but because I wasn’t connecting the dots as it were.
I will confess, it took reading Wolfgang Langewiesche’s Stick & Rudder for me to get the idea (in my 40s) that you lift the nose to lose altitude, something a bird knows and humans struggle with the older they are when they start to learn to fly.
I wouldn’t be too harsh on a CFI that is not in the plane when the student forgets that power reduction and holding the nose up results in a sink rate. After all, we do not allow them to carry pax until after they pass the check ride.
Lifting the nose to lose altitude like a bird means you have put the airplane deeply into the back side of the power curve, i.e. relatively close to stall speed where as you know from slow flight, the drag is high. When the glideslope is reached, it is necessary to reduce the rate of descent. The normal way to do that is raise the nose (simultaneously adjusting power to maintain desired speed). But in the bird type of descent, if you raise the nose further, you will likely stall. You put yourself into a dangerous trap.
Let’s see, you said “The normal way to do that is raise the nose (simultaneously adjusting power to maintain desired speed)”.
But you aren’t talking about entering the slow flight regime anymore than I was. Right?
You should read Langewische’s book and you will see where I paraphrased a point he was making.
In lifting the nose to descend, aren’t you descending in what Langewische calls a mushing glide?
I’m not a cfi. I”m an electrical engineer with 40 yrs experience in a number of engineering disciplines, as well as a pilot and aircraft owner.
Lets keep all of the comments on the article and not the other commenters.
BTW the ‘H’ is the 1st letter of my last name.
Given your background, you should know that you could be called out if you said something that you can’t back or are not qualified to assert.
If the NTSB or the Chief Flight Instructor for that school had thought that the CFI signing that student off for solo, or doing a supervised solo, was out of line, it would have figured prominently in that NTSB report based on others I’ve seen.
goodby
You are totally correct. This student has not been taught how to land. That person is a bigger accident waiting to happen unless they get correct instruction.
The H must stand for Haughty.
Two thumbs up for Wylbur.
Thanks! I had no idea how to solve that riddle👍