Accident Overview
On 30 July 2012, a Cessna 182T Skylane (registration G-MPLA, serial number 18281686) was involved in an accident during an approach and landing at Bristol Filton Airport. The aircraft was manufactured in 2005 and powered by one Lycoming IO-540-AB1A5 piston engine. The flight was a solo navigation exercise from Oxford Airport to Filton and return, with a planned visual approach and touch-and-go landing at Filton.
Flight Details
The student pilot, aged 24, had accumulated 46 total flying hours, of which 41 were on the Cessna 182 type. In the preceding 90 days, she had flown 33 hours, with 12 hours in the last 28 days. At Filton, Runway 27 was in use with a surface wind from 270° at 12 knots.
Pilot's Account
The student pilot reported that during the landing at Filton, she flared the aircraft too early, resulting in a high sink rate. She applied full power to execute a go-around but could not prevent the aircraft from contacting the runway. After the landing, she noticed that the aircraft required considerably more left rudder pedal input than usual. Upon landing back at Oxford, she found she was unable to apply right rudder pedal.
Damage
Inspection revealed damage to the forward bulkhead, nose gear assembly, wheel spats, and rudder control mechanism.
Investigation Findings
The training establishment conducted an investigation and determined that the most likely cause of the reported handling difficulty and damage was a hard landing. It was thought likely that this resulted from the student pilot encountering an unfamiliar runway aspect at Filton. Consequently, the training establishment introduced changes to internal procedures concerning the use of wider than normal runways by solo students.