The flight instructor, who was at the flight controls of the Aero Commander 100, and the student pilot departed Runway 31 and entered the left traffic pattern at the airport in Texarkana, Arkansas.
The CFI told investigators that while in the pattern, he lost situational awareness and aligned the airplane on final approach for Runway 4 with full flaps extended.
Upon realizing his error, he applied full power and turned right to enter the downwind for Runway 31, but he did not retract the flaps.
The airplane was unable to climb and hit a heavily wooded area, sustaining substantial damage to both wings, fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and horizontal stabilizer.
Both the CFI and student sustained minor injuries in the crash.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s improper decision to attempt a go-around with full flaps extended, which resulted in decreased climb performance and led to a collision with trees.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This December 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.
Experience is more than just flight hours. How & under what circumstances were the hours accumulated ?
Maybe CFI should be as respected as ATP and treated as a real accomplishment rather than a stepping stone to build time for that airline job.
How can we do that ?
I think 1,300-plus hours probably qualifies the CFI as being “experienced”.
Never mind the flaps. I think the bigger concern is the 800-pound gorilla in the room:
Why did the very current, 74-year-old CFI, confuse KTXK’s Runway 4 for Runway 31? Besides being 90 degrees “off”; they have vastly different dimensions.
Sad……..instructor related accidents keep happening………Another legacy aircraft destroyed…!
Usually (definitely not always) the airplane will climb with full flaps. But if the pilot is not familiar with the flatter trajectory, then a miscalculation to climb over an obstacle could easily happen. Bottom line, as is said with the impossible turn, if you haven’t trained and practiced it, maybe don’t attempt it.
180 hp and it won’t climb with full flaps? Of course it will. Carefully, yes, but it will climb. No excuse here.
Another of the ever growing number of CFIs (& instructors) who have paper qualifications but lack enough experience to hold the position of CFI (or instructor)
Yet another ‘expert’ CFI shown to be nothing more than the average Joe pilot.
“Average?” I think not. I think an average Pilot can do a go around correctly.
Assumption ; your name is not Joe, and that you consider yourself not average.
You reply adds nothing to the debate.
Wonder how long from applying full power until hitting impact he was wondering why the plane wasn’t climbing?