Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 150K near Morrilton, AR — 2013-06-10

Final reportCEN13LA342
Sign in to save
Date
2013-06-10
Location
Morrilton, AR, USA
Airport
BDQ
Aircraft
CESSNA 150K
Registration
N6412G
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The flight instructor's inadequate training and oversight of the student pilot, which resulted in the noncertificated student pilot's loss of control during landing.

NTSB narrative

The noncertificated student pilot's flight instructor had the student pilot performing touch-and go-landings during her first solo flight. During the student pilot's second touch-and-go landing, the airplane veered off the runway and subsequently nosed over while the flight instructor was talking to her over the radio, which likely increased her taskload. Typically, flight instructors have students practice full-stop landings during their first solo flights because such landings allow ample time for correcting any errors and help prevent student pilots from becoming overwhelmed. One flight training reference states that touch-and-go landings should never be performed during a student's first solo flight. The majority of the student pilot's training was in takeoffs and landings, and training logbook entries indicated that she was not in compliance with the minimum regulatory presolo training requirements. Further, during postaccident interviews, the student pilot stated that she did not know what many of the maneuvers she had performed during her flight training were called, which exemplified a lack of a solid and fundamental understanding of these maneuvers. The student pilot only held an airman medical certificate, which the flight instructor had endorsed on the back for the solo flight; she did not hold a student pilot certificate. The airplane was not equipped nor was it required to be equipped with a shoulder harness, which might have mitigated injuries to the student pilot when the airplane impacted terrain and nosed over.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Human factors
First missed decision gate
Flight instructor should not have allowed touch-and-go on first solo flight.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 7 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents7

Related mishaps