No fatalities

8 Apr 2010: American Champion 7GCAA — Cary Fletcher — Creve Couer, MO

Creve Couer, MO, United States

On 8 Apr 2010, an American Champion 7GCAA operated by Cary Fletcher was involved in an aviation accident near Creve Couer, MO. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to go-around during a simulated engine failure and the instructor pilot's delay in remedial actions. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

During touch-and-go landing practice, an instructor simulated an engine failure by reducing throttle, leading to a hard landing that damaged the landing gear and right wingtip after a go-around was not initiated promptly.

Accident Details

The accident involved a tail wheel equipped airplane being flown by the owner/pilot from the front seat, with an instructor pilot in the rear seat. They were practicing touch and go landings.

Narrative

After completing four normal takeoffs and landings and two downwind landings, the instructor pilot pulled out the carburetor heat and pulled the throttle to idle while on downwind to simulate an engine failure. The flying pilot turned toward the grass runway. The instructor pilot reported that the airplane was not positioned for a safe landing and expected the flying pilot to go around. When a go around was not initiated by the flying pilot, the instructor pilot called out “go around” and soon after moved the throttle to full open. The airplane bounced and landed hard, damaging the landing gear and right wingtip.

Damage

The hard landing resulted in damage to the landing gear and the right wingtip.

Pilot Comments

The flying pilot reported that a go around should be initiated at “an earlier stage while simulating an engine out.”

Contributing factors

PilotInstructor/check pilot