Factual Information
On 12 March 2011, a Cessna 172 aircraft, registered PK-HAI, operated by Aero Flyer Institute, was conducting a cross-country training flight from Cakrabhuwana Airport (WICD) in Cirebon, West Java, to Budiarto Airport (WICB) in Tangerang, Banten. On board were four persons: a pilot instructor, two student pilots, and a mechanic helper.
Sequence of Events
At 01:11 UTC (08:11 local time), the aircraft requested taxi to runway 04. At 01:13, it was positioned on the short runway 04 and began a backtrack. The aircraft took off at 01:19. The student pilot in the left seat was the pilot flying, while the instructor in the right seat monitored. The pilots received information from ATC that weather conditions were good, with visibility 6–8 km and calm wind.
During the takeoff roll, approximately 235 meters from the start of runway 04, the aircraft veered left. The pilot noticed the deviation and attempted to return to the centerline. When the aircraft reached about 60 knots, the student pilot pulled the control yoke to pitch the nose up and realign with the centerline. As the nose attitude increased, the instructor's right seat began sliding rearward. The instructor instinctively reached for his control yoke to halt the seat movement. Simultaneously, the student pilot spontaneously pushed the yoke to lower the aircraft's nose.
Consequently, the aircraft's pitch increased, the stall warning horn activated, and the lower rudder contacted the runway surface. The aircraft then veered right, departed the runway, bounced twice, and finally came to rest after impacting a cliff at 01:19, at coordinates 6°45'20"S 108°33'26"E. The occupants evacuated themselves, and no injuries were reported. The airport fire fighters responded promptly.
Aircraft Damage
Examination revealed that the forward and twisting forces during the accident caused the left yoke control shaft to fracture at the pin hole. The left yoke was broken. Additionally, the forward seat track stopper for the instructor's seat was found broken.
Cause
The National Transportation Safety Committee stated that the cause of this accident was the failure of the left yoke control shaft due to overstress.