- Date
- March 3, 2008, 08:40 local (15:40 UTC)
- Place
- Chandler, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8400APiper PA-28-161
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080303012009A
- Case key
- 67608
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot's delay in initiating the go-around, and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight and delayed remedial action. Contributing to the accident were the momentary failure of the engine to respond, the failure of both the student and the instructor to adhere to the operator's procedures, and the rough/uneven terrain.
Findings · 7
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The dual student was practicing a simulated engine-out landing, with the intention of executing a go-around during the last part of the final approach. Although the operator's procedures called for the initiation of a go-around no lower than 300 feet above ground level (agl), the flight instructor did not call for the go-around until the airplane was about 100 feet agl. To initiate the go-around, the student pushed the throttle to the full-forward position, whereupon the engine momentarily coughed, and the airplane continued to sink. Just as the engine accelerated to full power, the airplane struck the ground on rough/uneven terrain. The accident sequence resulted in both external and internal damage to both wings. After the accident, the engine was started and run at various power settings, and no anomalies were found that would have kept it from correctly responding to a full-throttle power application.
Factual narrative
On March 3, 2008, about 0840 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-28-161, N8400A, impacted the terrain during a go-around from a simulated engine-out landing about 11 miles south of Chandler Municipal Airport, Chandler, Arizona. The certified flight instructor and his student were not injured, but the airplane, which is owned and operated by Chandler Air Service, sustained substantial damage. The local 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, which departed Chandler Municipal Airport about 50 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed.
According to the flight instructor, his student was practicing a simulated engine-out landing, with the intention of executing a go-around during the last part of the final approach. According to telephone conversations with both the instructor and the student, the go-around was initiated when the airplane was about 100 feet above ground level (agl). To initiate the go-around, the student pushed the throttle to the full-forward position, whereupon the engine momentarily coughed/chocked, and the airplane continued to sink. Just as the engine accelerated to full power, the airplane struck the ground on rough/uneven terrain. The accident sequence resulted in both external and internal damage to both wings.
After the accident, the engine was started and run at various power settings, and no anomalies were found that would have kept it from correctly responding to a full-throttle power application.
During the investigation it was determined that the operator's procedure for all simulated engine-out activity is for the flight instructor pilot to call for the initiation of a go-around no lower than 300 feet agl.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8400A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8116249
- Airframe hours
- 15,293
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Chandler Air Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 1, 2008
- Departed
- KCHD · Chandler, AZ
- Destination
- KCHD
- Airport
- KCHD · Chandler Municipal
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2007
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 687 total · 280 in this make and model · 581 as pilot in command · 218 in the last 90 days · 59 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 18
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 57 total · 57 in this make and model · 34 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.