What happened
A student pilot was performing a series of maneuvers, including airwork, three uneventful landings, and a practice VOR approach. During the execution of an ILS approach, the flight instructor (CFI) instructed the student to remove his hood and advised that the flight was cleared to land.
At approximately 100 feet, the CFI reported that a wind gust caused the aircraft to fly high and lose airspeed. The instructor took control of the aircraft and applied power to correct the situation; however, the airplane began a left turn. The instructor noted that it appeared the left engine did not react fully, causing the left turn to continue.
The instructor retarded the throttles, and the aircraft touched down on the grass located between taxiway 'N' and runway 7L. The aircraft continued along the ground, at which point the right wing collided with the taxiway 'N3' sign. The aircraft eventually came to rest on taxiway November. There were no injuries reported.
The investigation
Weather observations taken 32 minutes before and 28 minutes after the accident indicated that no wind gusts had been reported. An examination of the taxiway 'N3' sign revealed it had broken loose from its cement pad; one mounting leg broke at the shear point, while the remaining legs broke away from the pad due to the breaking of cast mounting plates. Following the accident, an engine run-up was performed on the aircraft, and no discrepancies were noted.