History of the Flight
On 25 October 2011 at approximately 4:42 p.m., a Cessna 172R aircraft operated by Singapore Flying College veered off the left edge of the paved runway surface onto the grass area during a touch-and-go landing on Runway 21 at Seletar Airport. The aircraft crossed a helicopter landing lane and came to a stop about 100 m from the runway edge. The aircraft was not damaged.
The student pilot had earlier completed a dual sortie with an instructor and was cleared for a solo sortie. During the approach for the touch-and-go landing, air traffic control informed the student that the wind was five knots from 120 degrees. The approach was normal. After touchdown, the aircraft began to veer left. The student applied right rudder to correct, but when the aircraft did not respond, he removed his feet from the pedals. The aircraft continued left onto the grass. As the aircraft headed toward a drain, the student applied brakes, and it stopped before the drain.
Pilot Information
The student pilot was 25 years old and held a Student Pilot’s Licence valid until 31 December 2015. He had a total flying time of 19 hours 25 minutes, all on the Cessna 172R. He had flown 13 hours 5 minutes in the last 90 days and 1 hour 55 minutes in the last 24 hours. The student was the only person on board and was not injured. Medical and toxicological tests after the incident revealed no abnormalities.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft, registration 9V-FCG, was a Cessna 172R powered by one Lycoming IO-360-L2A engine. It had a valid certificate of airworthiness. No abnormalities of the steering or brake systems were reported prior to the incident. Post-incident examination found no defects.
Investigation Findings
The cause of the aircraft veering left after touchdown could not be determined. The wind, at five knots from 120 degrees, was within the aircraft’s demonstrated crosswind component of 15 knots, and there was no evidence that wind or fatigue were factors. The student stated that the wind did not affect his handling.
When the aircraft began to veer left, the student stepped on the right rudder pedal. According to the student, his left foot might have momentarily frozen, preventing it from moving rearward as the left rudder pedal moved back due to the right rudder application. This may have caused his left foot to slide up the pedal and inadvertently apply the left brake, which probably explains why the veering continued.
Safety Actions
The operator reminded all instructors to teach the landing technique as specified in the training manual and emphasized that instructors should remind students to keep their heels on the floor during landing to prevent inadvertent brake application.