This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.
Narrative 1
I was making my third approach onto the runway while doing pattern work for my second student solo. The approach was good and stable, the glide slope was good, and speed was around 65-68 knots over the numbers.
Landed slightly off the centerline to the left, the right wheel was still across the centerline. I then raised my flaps and added power to take off again to re-enter the pattern.
Almost as soon as I added power the Cessna 172 began to shift significantly to the left. I immediately started putting in the right rudder as I always do to counteract the left-turning tendency of the plane. The plane however continued to shift left and I continued to put in more and more right rudder. The amount of right rudder needed to keep the plane straight was much more than normal.
I avoided slamming on the right rudder in order to prevent an overcorrection, which I felt would have created a much worse situation.
After trying to correct the path of the plane it became obvious that the plane had reached a point of no return and was going to go off the left side of the runway.
Upon reaching this point I immediately pulled out all power and started pressing heavily on the brakes. The plane skidded off the runway and began running through the grass.
After the plane went into the grass it started to head towards Taxiway 1. While crossing 1 I hit multiple taxi lights and almost hit the Taxiway 1 sign but managed to avoid it.
After the plane crossed 1 it once again went into the grass while still continuing the left turn. At this point, the plane had slowed significantly. I came off the grass onto Taxiway 2 and finally came to rest in the middle of Taxiway 3.
After sitting on Taxiway 3 for about 15 to 30 seconds to collect my thoughts and to let my adrenaline die down slightly, I called the tower to let them know that I was okay and that the plane was still operable. Tower had me taxi back to the ramp where I parked and shut down.
After the shutdown, I got out and examined the plane. There were two considerable dents in the left strut leading down to the left wheel. There was also a considerable dent in the propeller. The right wheel cowling was also loose. No other exterior damage was observed.
Reflecting on the events I don’t understand what went wrong. I don’t dismiss that this could have easily been something I did/didn’t do.
However, after doing over three dozen landings with my instructor and five landings solo, I didn’t do anything different from the other landings I had made. The only thing that got my attention was the landing before the accident, on my second approach. The plane also had a fairly sharp turn to the left. It was enough to throw me to the left of the centerline completely, but I managed to keep it on the runway. I even verbally commented to myself about it as I took off.
I should have paid more attention to that and, in hindsight, aborted takeoff.
Part of me thinks that I should have put in more right rudder, but looking back, I think if I had input any more right rudder I would have overcorrected. If I had overcorrected to the right, it would have put me on a collision course with possible construction crews who were working that day, as well as multiple parked planes, which could have made the outcome much worse.
Narrative 2
Supervised student solo, instructor (myself) not in airplane. Student has been trained per part 61.87. Has demonstrated on multiple different training flights the ability to successfully takeoff and land the airplane without any instructor assistance.
While solo, the student landed back main wheels and lowered nose smooth and correct. Upon the rollout, flaps where retracted and power was applied. After the power was increased, the plane then veered to the left of the runway, clipping a runway light and making contact with the propeller. No injuries occurred during the incident.
After reviewing photos from the airport authority showing skid marks across the runway, it looks as if the student had made the decision to press the top left rudder pedal, engaging the left differential braking, which caused the airplane to veer left.
As the recommending instructor, I believe an emphasis on light control inputs, as well as feet off the brakes or “heels on the floor,” should be re-taught for all ground operations, as well as airport/runway awareness.
Primary Problem: Human Factors
ACN: 2051179
Maybe a SPELLING lesson would be appropriate!
If you don’t want to BREAK an airplane … stay off the BRAKES!
Thanks for the extra set of eyes Dave. Both Janice and I missed that. Both references to breaks rather than brakes have been corrected.
I had some students who would pivot themselves against a rudder pedal when pulling back on the control wheel during initial stall entries. They were totally unaware that they were doing it. This sounds like a somewhat similar issue – maintaining proper posture in the seat and applying control pressure with one limb without another limb doing something inadvertently is just part of basic control management. If that was the problem I don’t think any of the instructor’s suggestions are going to address that issue.
I had a similar experience while on my first short cross-country flight during my primary training, several years ago. As my aircraft landed rather hard on the runway, it began to veer sharply to the left. I applied opposite rudder to stop this, but then the aircraft was veering opposite right. This was happening repeatedly, as I tried to control my pathway. Back & forth, left & right. After several repetitions of this, I kind of panicked, and decide I would just let the plane go left into the grass, off the runway. I eventually came to a bumpy stop in the grass.
No significant damage, but I was totally embarrassed. And wondering why this happened.
Later, I learned that the most probable cause of this behavior, known as “wheelbarrowing”, was too much speed before touchdown, causing the front gear on the 172 to jamb in the up position. Scared the heck out of me, as a green solo student pilot. But it was one of those teaching experiences….
So, does that mean that you landed nose wheel first? Sounds like it.
Not sure what “too much speed before landing” had to do with failure to flair.
Not being critical. Just trying to figure out your scenario.