 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
A flight instructor observed his student; on his first solo takeoff; loose control and go into the grass before stopping. The aircraft is inspected by the instructor and others and found undamaged; so the instructor and student went up for some more practice. Later the nose gear was discovered to be bent.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 962127 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201107 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Takeoff |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Nose Gear |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Instructor |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 2900 Flight Crew Type 2000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Ground Excursion Runway Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control |
Narrative:
After forty hours of training in the last month; with tons of takeoffs and landings in the last week; it was time for the demonstrated solo. A thorough preflight had been made; all the endorsements checked; and the cockpit checklist was being used prior to taxi and departure. (Fifteen minutes elapsed from startup; to taxi; to runup before he announced his first takeoff). As he accelerated to rotation speed; I witnessed the plane lose control and do a wide u-turn onto the grass. As I walked up to the plane with the assistant airport manager and another instructor; I jumped into the plane to see how the student was doing. Surprisingly; he just wanted to apologize for over controlling the rudders trying to get the plane on the centerline during the rollout. I asked if he wanted to get back in the air - and he heartily agreed it would be a good thing to do. So prior to making the decision to go; I looked at the wing structure and tips - no damage; checked propeller - no prop strike; looked at landing gear - no damage but lots of grass from the side load. The other manager and CFI did the same and I decided that it was a good airplane that just swerved onto the grass. (What was I thinking? How could I possibly know if it was a good airplane by visual inspection only?) so I took off with my student for the next four hours; flying to several nearby airports; doing two take off and landings at each one. As we put away the plane; we planned on meeting first thing in the morning to complete his solo. I decided to clean the plane up as it was full of seasonal bugs and noticed something odd about the nose gear. The assistant manager was nearby and he decided to check it with a ruler and it is bent by almost a half inch on one side. I immediately grounded the plane until maintenance can look at it.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Flight Instructor observed his student; on his first solo takeoff; loose control and go into the grass before stopping. The aircraft is inspected by the instructor and others and found undamaged; so the instructor and student went up for some more practice. Later the nose gear was discovered to be bent.
Narrative: After forty hours of training in the last month; with tons of takeoffs and landings in the last week; it was time for the demonstrated solo. A thorough preflight had been made; all the endorsements checked; and the cockpit checklist was being used prior to taxi and departure. (fifteen minutes elapsed from startup; to taxi; to runup before he announced his first takeoff). As he accelerated to rotation speed; I witnessed the plane lose control and do a wide U-Turn onto the grass. As I walked up to the plane with the Assistant Airport Manager and another instructor; I jumped into the plane to see how the student was doing. Surprisingly; he just wanted to apologize for over controlling the rudders trying to get the plane on the centerline during the rollout. I asked if he wanted to get back in the air - and he heartily agreed it would be a good thing to do. So prior to making the decision to go; I looked at the wing structure and tips - no damage; checked propeller - no prop strike; looked at landing gear - no damage but lots of grass from the side load. The other manager and CFI did the same and I decided that it was a good airplane that just swerved onto the grass. (WHAT WAS I THINKING? HOW COULD I POSSIBLY KNOW IF IT WAS A GOOD AIRPLANE BY VISUAL INSPECTION ONLY?) So I took off with my student for the next four hours; flying to several nearby airports; doing two take off and landings at each one. As we put away the plane; we planned on meeting first thing in the morning to complete his solo. I decided to clean the plane up as it was full of seasonal bugs and noticed something odd about the nose gear. The Assistant Manager was nearby and he decided to check it with a ruler and it is bent by almost a half inch on one side. I immediately grounded the plane until maintenance can look at it.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.