A flight instructor has admitted he should have taken control from a student before the light aircraft crashed in Lincolnshire.
The four seater aircraft hit a shrub which tore off a wing and then ended upside down partially in water in a dyke in North Coates.
The crash happened as the Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee (G-AVZR) – owned by Gainsborough based Lincoln Aero Club Ltd, was on its take-off run with the flight instructor, student pilot and two other people on board, one of whom received minor injuries.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch report into the incident on the afternoon of Saturday, July 18, says that the instructor told air crash investigators afterwards that with the benefit of hindsight he should have taken control as the incident unfolded.
But he said he believed the aircraft would easily become airborne and that the student would succeed with a safe take-off.
The student was taking lessons to upgrade a license to fly microlights to one to fly light aircraft. The report says that on the day of the crash the aircraft had flown from Sturgate to North Coates.
Prior to the crash the student had turned on to the North Coates runway, applied full power and after a take-off run of 150 to 200 feet began his take-off.
The report continues: "The student over-rotated the aircraft slightly and forward view was partly obscured. The instructor told the student to ease the control column forward to reset the correct takeoff attitude.
"It then became clear that the aircraft had turned left by about 15 degrees and was converging on the left side of the runway. The student was instructed to steer to the right.
"The instructor stated that the air speed indicator was reading 60mph and he did not take control because he expected the aircraft to become airborne before reaching the side of the runway.
"Although it did become airborne and the student levelled off to allow the aircraft to accelerate, it then descended slightly and the left wheel came into contact with tall grass alongside the runway.
"This caused the aircraft to deviate to the left and decelerate, with the result that the left wingtip struck a shrub and the wing detached.
"The aircraft came to rest inverted in an irrigation dyke, with the windscreen underwater and tall grass and reeds obstructing the view through the side windows.
"Escape was facilitated by the arrival of the North Coates rescue team, who helped remove the window in the main door before assisting the occupants out of the aircraft."
Source: http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk
Synopsis
During an instructional flight the aircraft departed the left side of a grass runway on takeoff and struck a shrub, causing the left wing to detach. The aircraft came to rest in a dyke, inverted and partially underwater.
Accident report: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk
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