Incident Overview
A training flight encountered difficulties during the landing phase, leading to a series of events that culminated in the airplane leaving the runway and nosing over in a ditch.
Sequence of Events
During landing, the airplane began to sink rapidly. The student pilot responded by pushing forward on the elevator, which resulted in a hard landing. While recovering from the subsequent bounce, the certified flight instructor (CFI) took control of the airplane to cushion the next landing. However, the CFI did not inform the student that she had taken the controls. In the ensuing confusion, the student pilot added power and initiated a go-around. The CFI concurred with this decision, but the airplane was still bouncing, and the left main wheel had left the runway.
The airplane failed to become airborne because the flaps remained set at 30 degrees. The CFI noticed the flap setting about halfway down the runway and decided to abort the go-around. She applied full brakes, but the airplane departed the runway and nosed over in a ditch.
Pilot Experience
The CFI had 65 total hours of flight instruction experience at the time of the incident.