Aircraft and Flight Details
The aircraft involved was a Cessna TU206G, registered G-BYIC, manufactured in 1980. It was powered by a single Continental Motors TSIO-520-M piston engine. The flight was a private parachute dropping sortie, with two crew on board and no passengers. The commander held a Private Pilot's Licence and was 74 years old, with 1,600 hours total flying experience, including 1,000 hours on type. The pilot under training was being supervised to qualify for dropping parachutists.
Sequence of Events
On 13 April 2001 at 1500 UTC, the aircraft was operating from Shotton Colliery Airfield, County Durham. The sortie involved four circuits at 3,500 feet over the airfield, with one parachutist exiting on each circuit. After the last parachutist exited, the pilot under training made a wide left-hand descending circuit and stabilised the aircraft on final approach at 70 knots with full flap extended.
The grass strip is 625 metres long, with a one-metre-high chain link fence located 60 metres before the threshold of Runway 12. The commander considered the aircraft's height as it passed over the boundary fence to be correct. However, the pilot under training thought he was too low and applied power for a go-around. The aircraft nose pitched up, and before the commander could take control, the aircraft sank to the ground, landing on the nose landing gear, which collapsed. The aircraft came to a stop after approximately 70 metres. Both pilots exited the aircraft through the normal exit. Neither pilot was injured.
Damage
The nose landing gear collapsed, and the propeller was damaged. There was also possible shockloading to the engine.
Commander's Conclusions
The commander concluded that the pilot under supervision had not appreciated the degree of pitch up that would result from the application of go-around power and did not compensate by making a forward movement of the control column, which allowed the aircraft to stall.