What happened
On July 12, 2024, a PS-28 Cruiser, registration SP-CFI, was conducting flight training at Płock (EPPL) airport. The flight began with a student pilot and an instructor flying circuit patterns. Following a period of supervised flight, the student pilot was cleared to perform solo maneuvers. After several successful solo circuits, the student attempted a fourth landing.
Upon touchdown on the grass runway, the aircraft began to bounce. An instructor watching from the ground issued three radio commands to the student to correct the aircraft's control, but did not issue a command to perform a go-around. The aircraft bounced four times in total. During the final bounce, the nose gear strut failed, causing the aircraft to strike the propeller against the grass. This impact resulted in the aircraft flipping onto its back. The student pilot sustained no injuries and exited the aircraft safely with the assistance of the instructor.
The investigation
The PKBWL examined data from the aircraft's Dynon SkyView SV-D1000 system, which acted as a flight data recorder. The reconstruction of the landing profile showed that the approach was controlled and the student maintained the correct alignment with the runway axis. However, the data revealed that after the initial touchdown, the student likely pushed the control stick forward, initiating the first bounce.
Subsequent control inputs—pulling the stick back and then pushing it forward again—led to a series of increasingly severe bounces. The investigation also noted that the airport management had not been notified of the planned flights outside of standard operating hours, and the student pilot was only maintaining radio contact with the instructor during the solo sessions.
Findings
- The direct cause of the accident was the improper reaction of the student pilot following the initial contact with the runway, specifically the lack of established habits for managing bounces.
- A contributing factor was the instructor's failure to issue a clear command to execute a go-around, which could have prevented the subsequent bounces and the structural failure.
- The aircraft's nose gear strut broke due to the intense vertical loads during the fourth bounce.