Pilot Debrief

Beech C23 near Augusta, KS — 2008-08-06

Final reportDEN08CA133
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Date
2008-08-06
Location
Augusta, KS, USA
Airport
3AU
Aircraft
Beech C23
Registration
N24598
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

The student pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane. Contributing to the accident were the flight instructor's inadequate supervision, turbulence, airspeed was not maintained, and compensation for the wind conditions was inadequate.

NTSB narrative

The flight instructor said the weather report indicated rain to the north and northeast that was moving to the east. He observed rain and lightning to the distant north, and he made the decision to give his student some experience in touch-and-go and crosswind landings. He said the wind was out of the east-northeast at 14 knots. As they taxied for takeoff, he checked the weather using a nearby airport's ASOS, and it was reporting the wind from 050 degrees at 10 knots. The takeoff and crosswind and downwind legs were without incident. When they turned on to final approach, the student used the VASI lights as an aid for proper glide path. The instructor said that their speed was 70 knots and the student had deployed one notch of flaps. When they were on a 1-1/2 mile final approach, they encountered turbulence and airspeed had dropped to 68 knots. Short of the runway threshold, the airplane "experienced a sinking action" from an altitude of about 30 to 40 feet. The instructor pushed the nose down "to gain some lift," then pulled up to flare. The airplane continued to sink and struck the runway "at a high rate" and bounced. The airplane touched down again and skidded off the left side of the runway onto the grass. It struck a ditch and the nose gear collapsed. Later examination revealed the left main landing gear had been torn off and it struck the left horizontal stabilizer, denting the leading edge and bending the stabilizer midspan. After the accident, the nearest weather reporting facility reported winds from 080 degrees at 19 knots, gusting to 28 knots.

NTSB coding

View NTSB final report

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