History of Flight
The student pilot arrived at Ben Air Flight Academy at 07:20 UTC to prepare for a PPL skill test. After briefing with the flight examiner, they performed a pre-flight inspection, including draining the fuel tanks and checking engine oil. The aircraft was then taxied to the fueling station and both fuel tanks were filled to capacity (35 US gallons remained).
Takeoff from EBAW occurred at 09:20 UTC. The flight proceeded east toward Tessenderlo for various examination exercises, then toward Liege. The flight plan included a landing at EBZH. During the approach, the pilot followed the procedure for landing at EBZH, including fuel tank switching and activating the fuel pump. Overhead EBZH at 1550 ft AGL, the flight examiner initiated a simulated practiced forced landing (PFL) by retarding the throttle to idle and setting the carburetor heat ON.
The pilot placed the aircraft in a descent for Runway 27, applying the emergency landing procedure (73 kts, 10° flaps) and adjusting trim. On base leg, flaps were selected to 25°. During the descent, engine rpm was observed between 900 and 1000 rpm. On final approach, the pilot realized the aircraft was too low and decided to abort the landing. When gently applying more throttle, the engine did not respond and remained at low rpm. The examiner took control, lowered the nose to gain speed, and attempted to reach the airfield. The pilot checked instruments and controls, including rpm, fuel tank selection, fuel pump, throttle, and mixture, and tried to engage the starter without success.
The aircraft touched down in a field adjacent to the airfield, crossed a road, and came to a stop after hitting concrete pillars and barbed wire, 80 m from the initial touchdown point. Both occupants, after shutting down all power, switches, and controls, exited the aircraft uninjured.
Personnel Information
The student pilot was a 22-year-old Belgian male holding a student pilot license issued 2 March 2010, valid until 2 March 2015, with a Class 1 medical certificate.
The flight examiner was a 53-year-old Belgian male holding a commercial pilot license first issued 3 December 1999, with ratings for single-engine and multi-engine landplanes, instrument rating, flight instructor, and flight examiner. His total flight experience was 9,741.43 hours, including over 6,000 hours as a flight instructor.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft was a Piper PA-28-161 Warrior III, serial number 2842278, built in 2006, registered OO-TMI. It was owned by Ben Air Flight Academy. The engine was a Lycoming O-320-D3G (serial L-766-39E) with 56.2 hours since overhaul, total time 4,056.2 hours. The propeller was a Sensenich 74DM6-0-60 with 3,218.9 hours. The last 50-hour inspection was performed on 31 January 2011, and the carburetor heater control cable was adjusted on 12 January 2011. The engine and accessories were replaced on 2 November 2010 by Winters Aviation.
Damage to Aircraft
The aircraft sustained heavy damage: the nose landing gear and left main landing gear were broken, the propeller was bent (mainly one blade), the firewall was slightly bent, and both wings had impact damage.
Injuries
No injuries were reported. The two persons on board were uninjured.