What happened
During a flight instructor's demonstration of a soft field takeoff, the aircraft achieved lift-off but subsequently settled back onto the runway. The aircraft then became airborne a second time, at which point the pilot lost control. The aircraft ultimately settled into terrain located adjacent to the runway. There were no injuries reported.
The investigation
A wreckage examination was conducted to identify any mechanical discrepancies. Investigators found that the right flap was in the up position. While the left flap was discovered deployed to approximately 10 degrees, this was attributed to impact damage, which also caused the follow-up cable to become slack. The rest of the flap system remained intact.
Because the flaps are electrically driven through a jack screw to the right flap, and the left flap is driven via a follow-up cable from the right flap, the left flap cannot be positioned independently of the right flap. The findings were consistent with the flaps being in the up position at the time of impact.