What happened
On the night of July 30, 2018, a Cessna 172 S, registration PK-BYK, was conducting night touch-and-go training at Blimbingsari Airport in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. The flight crew, consisting of one flight instructor and two student pilots, was performing a series of simulated emergency exercises.
During the final approach, the instructor intentionally switched the master electrical switch to the OFF position to simulate an electrical failure. Upon landing on runway 26, the instructor attempted to restore power by switching the master switch back to the ON position. However, in the dark cockpit environment, the instructor could not locate the switch. The student pilot in the left seat attempted to assist in searching for the switch, causing both crew members to divert their attention away from the flight controls.
As the crew focused on the instrument panel, the aircraft lost directional control and veered to the left. The aircraft exited the runway pavement and entered an excavated area on the left shoulder, approximately 5/0 cm deep. The impact caused the right main landing gear to collapse. The instructor eventually regained control and steered the aircraft back onto the runway, where it came to a stop at a significant angle to the landing direction. There were no injuries, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The investigation
The KNKT investigation focused on the cockpit environment and the condition of the aerodrome. Investigators found that the crew was operating without headlamps, which significantly hindered their ability to identify switches in the dark. Furthermore, there was no established task distribution or procedure for maintaining directional control while searching for controls during a simulated failure.
Regarding the airfield, the investigation revealed that while a NOTAM had announced the closure of taxiway C for construction, there were no visible markings or signs indicating the presence of the excavated area on the runway shoulder. This lack of marking meant the pilot was unaware of the hazard when the aircraft veered off the pavement.
Findings
- The crew members were unable to locate the master switch due to the dark environment and the absence of headlamps.
- A lack of task prioritization and cockpit resource management meant that neither the instructor nor the student pilot maintained directional control of the aircraft during the search.
- The aircraft's right main landing gear collapsed due to the impact with the un-marked excavation on the runway shoulder.
Safety action
Following the incident, the flight school revised its instructor guidance regarding electrical failure exercises. Additionally, the training syllabus at the academy was updated to remove the electrical failure exercise entirely.