Narrative:

One of my student pilots ran off of the runway upon landing during her initial solo flight. On her first 3 attempts at landing, she flared too abruptly and ballooned and then initiated a 'go around.' on her next attempt, I helped her some by talking to her on the radio, and she landed beautifully. She was highly confident and in good spirits, so I let her continue so that she could accomplish 3 solo lndgs. Her next 4 attempts were a repeat of the first 3. On her final attempt, I told her to power back a little earlier and flare slowly, and if she started to balloon, to freeze the controls and accept a firm touchdown. When she flared, she ballooned some, but salvaged the landing, except she drifted off to the left side of the runway, and after landing she actually ran off of the runway into the dirt and then corrected back to the runway. Her solo flight was then terminated and she taxied back to pick me up. I believe that there were 2 things that caused this problem. 1) that I obviously let her solo before she was ready to. And 2) that she wasn't ready to solo because she could not transition from descending flight through the flare to a landing. She tried to go immediately from a descent to a landing attitude (causing the balloon). She reduced the power to idle too late, focused at a point right in front of her on the runway, and rotated in the flare too abruptly. Also, she let any amount of wind drift her in the flare. The corrective action that I took was to fly dual a couple more times to practice lndgs. First, I set her in the airplane and I pulled down on the tail to raise the nose into the landing attitude and had her see the 'picture' of what the landing should look like when the main gear touched down. Then I had her stand on the balcony of a 2 story building at fresno air terminal and look down at the other end of the field to get a feeling of how high she should be starting her flare. Next, I did a high speed taxi with the nosewheel in the air and had her focus at the other end of the runway so that she could get the 'picture' of what the landing should look like right after touchdown. Then, while flying down final, I showed her again where to reduce power, and how to slowly change the pitch and how to look at the opposite end of the field and judge the aircraft's height through her peripheral vision. To correct the drifting problem, I had her fly the length of madera's (mae) runway at about 30 ft AGL and had her drift back and forth from one runway edge to the other. I showed her that the ailerons are used for drift and the rudder is used for fuselage alignment with the runway. This student can now make very nice and smooth normal and crosswind lndgs. In the future, to prevent this from recurring, I will do the aforementioned corrective action before I send a student up on his/her first solo flight. I forgot to mention at the beginning that there was no damage done to the student, aircraft, or the airfield (i.e., runway marking and lighting).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: STUDENT ROLLED OFF SIDE OF RWY DURING ONE OF HER FIRST SOLO LNDGS.

Narrative: ONE OF MY STUDENT PLTS RAN OFF OF THE RWY UPON LNDG DURING HER INITIAL SOLO FLT. ON HER FIRST 3 ATTEMPTS AT LNDG, SHE FLARED TOO ABRUPTLY AND BALLOONED AND THEN INITIATED A 'GAR.' ON HER NEXT ATTEMPT, I HELPED HER SOME BY TALKING TO HER ON THE RADIO, AND SHE LANDED BEAUTIFULLY. SHE WAS HIGHLY CONFIDENT AND IN GOOD SPIRITS, SO I LET HER CONTINUE SO THAT SHE COULD ACCOMPLISH 3 SOLO LNDGS. HER NEXT 4 ATTEMPTS WERE A REPEAT OF THE FIRST 3. ON HER FINAL ATTEMPT, I TOLD HER TO PWR BACK A LITTLE EARLIER AND FLARE SLOWLY, AND IF SHE STARTED TO BALLOON, TO FREEZE THE CTLS AND ACCEPT A FIRM TOUCHDOWN. WHEN SHE FLARED, SHE BALLOONED SOME, BUT SALVAGED THE LNDG, EXCEPT SHE DRIFTED OFF TO THE L SIDE OF THE RWY, AND AFTER LNDG SHE ACTUALLY RAN OFF OF THE RWY INTO THE DIRT AND THEN CORRECTED BACK TO THE RWY. HER SOLO FLT WAS THEN TERMINATED AND SHE TAXIED BACK TO PICK ME UP. I BELIEVE THAT THERE WERE 2 THINGS THAT CAUSED THIS PROBLEM. 1) THAT I OBVIOUSLY LET HER SOLO BEFORE SHE WAS READY TO. AND 2) THAT SHE WASN'T READY TO SOLO BECAUSE SHE COULD NOT TRANSITION FROM DSNDING FLT THROUGH THE FLARE TO A LNDG. SHE TRIED TO GO IMMEDIATELY FROM A DSCNT TO A LNDG ATTITUDE (CAUSING THE BALLOON). SHE REDUCED THE PWR TO IDLE TOO LATE, FOCUSED AT A POINT RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER ON THE RWY, AND ROTATED IN THE FLARE TOO ABRUPTLY. ALSO, SHE LET ANY AMOUNT OF WIND DRIFT HER IN THE FLARE. THE CORRECTIVE ACTION THAT I TOOK WAS TO FLY DUAL A COUPLE MORE TIMES TO PRACTICE LNDGS. FIRST, I SET HER IN THE AIRPLANE AND I PULLED DOWN ON THE TAIL TO RAISE THE NOSE INTO THE LNDG ATTITUDE AND HAD HER SEE THE 'PICTURE' OF WHAT THE LNDG SHOULD LOOK LIKE WHEN THE MAIN GEAR TOUCHED DOWN. THEN I HAD HER STAND ON THE BALCONY OF A 2 STORY BUILDING AT FRESNO AIR TERMINAL AND LOOK DOWN AT THE OTHER END OF THE FIELD TO GET A FEELING OF HOW HIGH SHE SHOULD BE STARTING HER FLARE. NEXT, I DID A HIGH SPD TAXI WITH THE NOSEWHEEL IN THE AIR AND HAD HER FOCUS AT THE OTHER END OF THE RWY SO THAT SHE COULD GET THE 'PICTURE' OF WHAT THE LNDG SHOULD LOOK LIKE RIGHT AFTER TOUCHDOWN. THEN, WHILE FLYING DOWN FINAL, I SHOWED HER AGAIN WHERE TO REDUCE PWR, AND HOW TO SLOWLY CHANGE THE PITCH AND HOW TO LOOK AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE FIELD AND JUDGE THE ACFT'S HEIGHT THROUGH HER PERIPHERAL VISION. TO CORRECT THE DRIFTING PROBLEM, I HAD HER FLY THE LENGTH OF MADERA'S (MAE) RWY AT ABOUT 30 FT AGL AND HAD HER DRIFT BACK AND FORTH FROM ONE RWY EDGE TO THE OTHER. I SHOWED HER THAT THE AILERONS ARE USED FOR DRIFT AND THE RUDDER IS USED FOR FUSELAGE ALIGNMENT WITH THE RWY. THIS STUDENT CAN NOW MAKE VERY NICE AND SMOOTH NORMAL AND XWIND LNDGS. IN THE FUTURE, TO PREVENT THIS FROM RECURRING, I WILL DO THE AFOREMENTIONED CORRECTIVE ACTION BEFORE I SEND A STUDENT UP ON HIS/HER FIRST SOLO FLT. I FORGOT TO MENTION AT THE BEGINNING THAT THERE WAS NO DAMAGE DONE TO THE STUDENT, ACFT, OR THE AIRFIELD (I.E., RWY MARKING AND LIGHTING).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.