Primary finding
Probable cause
The student pilot’s loss of control and the instructor’s delayed remedial action.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
Shortly after takeoff the student pilot experienced trouble controlling the light sport airplane. The flight instructor took over the controls and, believing that the airplane’s flight controls might have been malfunctioning, elected to land on the remaining runway. The fiberglass airplane impacted the runway hard, which resulted in a propeller strike and the collapse of the nose landing gear and left main landing gear. The airplane came to rest on the runway in an upright and left-wing-low position. Following an engine shutdown, the instructor and student were able to exit unassisted. Around the time of the accident the wind was shifting back and forth from a quartering headwind to a quartering tailwind. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane and reported that no preimpact anomalies were noted with the airplane’s flight controls.
Source record
Factual narrative
Shortly after takeoff the student pilot experienced trouble controlling the light sport airplane. The flight instructor took over the controls and, believing that the airplane’s flight controls might have been malfunctioning, elected to land on the remaining runway. The fiberglass airplane impacted the runway hard, which resulted in a propeller strike and the collapse of the nose landing gear and left main landing gear. The airplane came to rest on the runway in an upright and left-wing-low position. Following an engine shutdown, the instructor and student were able to exit unassisted. Around the time of the accident the wind was shifting back and forth from a quartering headwind to a quartering tailwind. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane and reported that no preimpact anomalies were noted with the airplane’s flight controls.