Aircraft and Flight Details
The aircraft involved was a Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee, registration G-BLDG, powered by one Lycoming O-540-B2C5 piston engine. It was manufactured in 1968. The flight was a private familiarisation flight in preparation for glider towing duties. The flight took place on 3 September 2007 at 1430 UTC at Rufforth Aerodrome, Yorkshire. The pilot, aged 53, held a Private Pilot's Licence with 648 hours total flying experience, of which 1 hour was on type. In the last 90 days he had flown 6 hours, and in the last 28 days, 1 hour. There were no passengers on board, and the pilot was wearing a full harness.
History of the Flight
On the morning of the accident, the pilot received an extensive briefing on the aircraft from the tugmaster of the gliding club. He studied the Pilot's Operating Handbook and subsequently taxied the aircraft around the airfield to familiarise himself with its ground handling characteristics. After gaining sufficient confidence, he made his first flight in the aircraft, exploring its handling characteristics. During stall practice with full flap selected, he noted that the aircraft tended to drop the right wing. He returned to the airfield and performed a number of circuits and landings without incident.
In the afternoon, he conducted a second familiarisation flight. He performed three successful circuits and landings. The fourth circuit was tighter than the previous three.
Accident Sequence
The approach of the fourth circuit was initially satisfactory, but the pilot believed he inadvertently allowed the airspeed to decay excessively over the airfield boundary and rounded out too high. This caused the aircraft to lose flying speed, and the right wing dropped. The pilot immediately applied full power but was unable to prevent the right wing from contacting the grass surface of the runway. The aircraft then landed heavily and slewed round to the right, entering the parallel asphalt runway, where it came to rest facing in the direction of approach. The pilot, who was wearing a full harness, was uninjured. The aircraft sustained damage to the right wing.
Pilot's Assessment
In the pilot's opinion, the accident was caused by allowing the speed to decay below safe limits on the approach and a late attempt at taking corrective action.