Primary finding
Probable cause
The instructor pilot's inadequate supervision of the student, resulting in a loss of control while landing.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The certificated flight instructor (CFI) was providing flight instruction to a student pilot in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The CFI said that during touchdown on the gravel runway, the student pilot bounced the airplane, and as the main wheels touched down again the airplane veered to the left. The CFI said that he took control of the airplane in an attempt to realign it, but it continued to veer to the left and he applied full engine power to abort the landing. The airplane became airborne momentarily, but descended into an area on the left side of the runway and collided with terrain. According to a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector, no preaccident mechanical anomalies were revealed during his postaccident inspection.
Source record
Factual narrative
On April 26, 2008, about 1030 Alaska daylight time, a Bellanca 7GCBC airplane, N10987, sustained substantial damage during an aborted landing at the Tetlin Airport, Tetlin, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The first pilot, seated in the rear seat, a certificated flight instructor (CFI), and the second pilot, seated in the front seat, a student pilot, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Tok Airport, Tok, Alaska, about 0900. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on April 26, the CFI reported that he was providing primary flight instruction to a student in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. He said that before the accident landing, the student had completed a series of touch-and-go landings on runway 26, a gravel runway. During the accident landing the student allowed the airplane to bounce slightly, and as the main wheels touched down again, the airplane veered to the left. The CFI said that he took control of the airplane in an attempt to realign it, but it continued to veer to the left, and he applied full engine power in an attempt to abort the landing. The airplane became airborne momentarily, but descended into an area on the left side of the runway, and collided with an area of rough and uneven terrain. The airplane came to rest upright, and sustained structural damage to the wings, wing lift struts, fuselage, and empennage. The CFI noted that winds were calm at the time of the accident. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector from the Fairbanks Flight Standards District Office inspected the airplane after it was recovered, and reported that no preaccident mechanical anomalies were revealed.