Aircraft and Pilot Information
The aircraft involved was a Cessna 172M, registration G-TRIO, manufactured in 1976. It was powered by a single Lycoming O-320-E2D piston engine. The flight was a private training flight with one crew and two passengers on board. No injuries were sustained by any occupants, but the aircraft incurred substantial structural damage.
The commander held a Private Pilot's Licence and was 63 years old. His total flying experience was 76 hours, of which 9 hours were on type. In the 90 days preceding the accident, he had flown 5 hours, with 3 hours in the last 28 days.
Flight Details
The incident occurred on 27 May 1999 at approximately 1100 UTC at Biggin Hill, Kent. Runway 11 was in use, which had an asphalt surface with an available landing distance of 816 metres and no approach lighting. The surface wind was 110° at 11 kt, visibility was greater than 10 km with no significant weather, and the temperature was +22°C.
Incident Sequence
During the base leg for Runway 11, the pilot selected what he believed to be flap 20. However, during the approach he realised he was too high. He lowered the nose and continued the descent. After landing, the aircraft bounced several times. The pilot decided to go around and applied full power. The subsequent climb out appeared sluggish, and the pilot then realised that flap 40 was set. At an estimated height of about 30 feet, he retracted the flaps to flap 20 and lowered the nose to cancel a brief stall warning. He then flew a normal circuit and landed safely.
The flaps on this aircraft are electrically operated, controlled by a switch that remains in the down position until the desired flap setting is reached, at which point the switch is returned to the centre (power off) position. The pilot stated in his report that he inadvertently selected flap 40 on the base leg and acknowledged that he should have initiated a go-around once he realised he was too high on approach. He requested further training, which has since been completed.