History of the Flight
On 11 May 2015, a Piper PA-28-161, registration G-BZMT, was engaged in a training flight at White Waltham Airfield, Berkshire. The flight was the instructor's fourth of the day in that aircraft and the student's first. Pre-takeoff engine power checks were reported as normal, and the wind was 12 kt from 210°. The aircraft departed from Runway 25. Shortly after passing 200 ft above aerodrome level, the engine failed. The instructor took control of the aircraft and broadcast a MAYDAY call on the airfield frequency. At that low altitude, the instructor determined that few options were available and chose to land in the field directly beneath. The aircraft touched down with full flap selected on a heading of approximately 90° and ran along the ground for about 50 m before colliding with an earth bank and fence.
Post-Landing Events and Fire
After vacating the aircraft, the instructor observed a fire in the right side of the engine compartment. He instructed the student to turn the fuel selector to off and assisted the student in exiting the aircraft. The instructor then discharged the aircraft's hand fire extinguisher into the engine compartment, but the fire continued to burn. Airfield first responders, directed to the accident site by the pilot of an orbiting aircraft, eventually extinguished the fire. The student reported difficulty moving the fuel selector valve beyond the safety catch into the off position and, due to the fire, vacated the aircraft with the fuel selector valve left in the left position.
Injuries and Aircraft Damage
The instructor was uninjured. The student sustained minor injuries, reporting pains in the back and chest; he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and later reported severe bruising to his lower back, chest, and legs. The aircraft was extensively damaged: the engine mount was distorted, engine fuel pipes and carburettor were damaged, the left fuel tank was punctured, and the nose and right main landing gear leg had broken. The aircraft was assessed as beyond economic repair.