What happened
On February 24, 2003, at 16:22 local time, a Socata TB-10, registration EC-FSP, departed the runway centerline during a touch-and-go maneuver at Salamanca Airport. The flight was being conducted for flight instruction purposes, with an instructor and two students on board.
After completing the first student's training segment, the crew performed a crew change on the ground and continued the flight. During the second touch-and-go maneuver of the session, the aircraft was rolling along the runway while the crew was configuring the aircraft for takeoff by selecting a flap setting. During this process, the aircraft began to deviate toward the left side of the runway. The instructor immediately attempted to correct the deviation by applying right rudder and maximum braking. However, the aircraft continued to slide sideways and exited the runway.
As the aircraft crossed an electrical cable conduit running parallel to the runway, the nose gear collapsed. This caused the propeller and the right wingtip to strike the ground. There were no injuries to the three occupants.
The investigation
The investigation examined the aircraft's movement, the braking marks on the pavement, and the crew's actions. Investigators noted that the aircraft began to deviate approximately 600 meters from the runway threshold. Tire marks on the pavement indicated that a heavy braking application occurred as the aircraft reached the runway edge lights, leaving marks near the runway margin. The tracks from the nose wheel overlapped with the right main gear tracks, suggesting an asymmetrical braking application.
Findings
- The meteorological conditions were favorable, with winds from 210° at 11 knots, which were aligned with the runway axis.
- The runway width provided sufficient margin to correct a deviation, and the taxi speed was relatively low as full power had not yet been applied.
- The primary cause of the excursion was the student's lack of proficiency in managing the nose wheel steering pedals and the landing gear brakes, which led to the initial misalignment with the runway centerline.
- The corrective actions taken by the instructor were not implemented with sufficient speed to prevent the excursion.