The flight instructor and the student pilot were practicing a simulated loss of engine power landing procedure.
When the Cessna 172N was over the runway at the airport in Blair, New Jersey, it began to “excessively” float and the instructor told the student to go-around.
The student added full power and pulled back on the control yoke to initiate the go-around.
The instructor said the airplane almost immediately banked toward the left of the runway.
He immediately took over the controls and attempted to recover from the situation. However, he was unable to overpower the student’s excessive input and the airplane hit the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing.
The instructor reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The student pilot’s improper control inputs and the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action, which resulted in a loss of control during an attempted go-around.
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This November 2023 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.
Where’s the rest of the story? If we are all going to learn from this, how do we keep this from happening? Had the low time instructor provided instruction on the proper way to initiate a go around? Had this been practiced in the past?
The student’s actions would appear that it was not something that he was proficient at to say the least, and the instructor’s actions being too late or improper to recover would indicate that the student was not briefed or instructed on how to properly perform a go around.
I’ve seen this situation as well . . . student pilot SLAMS hard right rudder just at touchdown (Cherokee 140), CFI was just barely able to recover it, no damage, but swore he’d never fly with that student again.
(I met that student pilot, and I shared everyone else’s opinion at the school that some people – particularly this person – should never be allowed near an airplane – ever – even as a passenger on a commercial flight, unless bound, gagged, sedated, locked in an LD-5 and sent in the cargo hold.)
If there had been an incident/accident, that CFI might never be able to get an airline job in the future. Hardly fair to the CFI in question.