What happened
On 13 June 2009, a Pierre Robin HR200/120B, registration G-BYLH, was conducting a solo training flight at Leeds Bradford Airport. The pilot, a student with 35 total flying hours, was performing a consolidation exercise involving visual circuits. During the flight, the pilot successfully completed four touch-and-go landings under favorable weather conditions with a light westerly wind.
During the fifth approach, as the nosewheel made contact with the runway, the aircraft experienced a sudden deviation to the left. The pilot attempted to use the rudder to counteract this movement, but the steering deviation could not be corrected. Consequently, the aircraft left the paved runway surface. The incident resulted in no injuries to the pilot and caused only minor damage to the nosewheel spat.
The investigation
Investigators examined the circumstances surrounding the loss of directional control. It was noted that the operator had previously been unable to identify any mechanical faults with the aircraft. Interestingly, the manufacturer had previously suggested that reducing the nosewheel tyre pressure could assist with directional control on hard runways. Following this specific event, the aircraft continued to operate without any further instances of similar directional control issues.