What happened
On 9 July 2015, a Murphy Rebel, registration G-DIKY, was performing a training flight at Stoke Golding Airfield in Leicestershire. The flight was nearing completion after the student pilot had accumulated nearly four hours of flight time that day. The instructor was seated in the right seat while the student was operating the aircraft from the left seat.
During the final approach to Runway 26, the approach was initially stable. However, when the aircraft was roughly 20 to 30 feet above the ground, the student initiated a flare. The instructor issued verbal commands to go around, noting the aircraft was too high, but these instructions were not acted upon. Consequently, the aircraft entered a stall and struck the runway approximately 120 metres past the threshold.
The impact caused the left landing gear to detach and damaged the right gear. The aircraft then settled onto its left wingtip, causing the propeller to strike the ground and the engine to suffer shock-loading. The momentum caused the aircraft to swing 150 degrees to the left, eventually coming to a stop two metres away from a parked aircraft. There were no injuries to the two crew members.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot. Investigators examined the sequence of the landing and the interaction between the instructor and the student. The assessment focused on the timing of the flare and the effectiveness of the instructor's intervention during the critical moments of the approach.