What happened
On February 15, 2020, at approximately 14:30 local time, a Socata TB-10, registration EC-FSM, was conducting a flight training mission at Matacán Airport (Salamanca) under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). The flight was part of a commercial pilot license training program, with an instructor, a student pilot, and another student acting as a passenger on board.
During the takeoff phase, the instructor decided to perform a maneuver not authorized by the flight school's training manual: a simulated engine failure at a very low altitude immediately after takeoff. As the aircraft climbed, the instructor reduced the throttle to idle to simulate the loss of power. The student pilot, who had only 4:2/25 hours of total flight time, struggled to maintain the required climb speed. The instructor intervened by pushing the controls forward to prevent a stall, but the student subsequently pulled back on the controls. This resulted in an abnormal contact with the runway with a high vertical velocity and a positive pitch attitude. The aircraft sustained significant damage to the main landing gear, the rear fuselage, and the left wing, but was able to taxi to the parking apron under its own power.
The investigation
The CIAIAC investigation focused on the flight's adherence to the approved training syllabus and the instructor's management of the aircraft during the emergency simulation. The investigation established that the maneuver performed—a simulated engine failure at low altitude following takeoff—was not included in the mission 4 syllabus, nor was it authorized in any other mission within the flight school's Instruction Manual.
Investigators also examined the instructor's actions, noting that while the instructor attempted to correct the aircraft's attitude, there was no explicit verbal transfer of control (such as stating "I have control"). Furthermore, the investigation found that similar unauthorized maneuvers had been performed earlier that same day during a previous flight involving the same instructor and different students.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the instructor's failure to adhere to established instruction procedures.
- A contributing factor was the inadequate supervision of the flight by the instructor, specifically regarding the lack of explicit control transfer and the decision to perform an unauthorized, high-risk maneuver.
- The maneuver performed was extremely risky and not contemplated in the approved training syllabus for the student's current stage of flight training.
- The aircraft sustained substantial damage, including a broken tail cone, damaged landing gear components, and a fuel leak in the left wing.