Aircraft and Flight Details
The aircraft involved was a Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, registration G-BRBW, manufactured in 1974. It was powered by one Lycoming O-320-E3D piston engine. The flight was a training sortie with a student pilot as the sole occupant. The student, aged 46, had 22 hours of total flying experience, all on type, with 12 hours in the last 28 days.
Sequence of Events
On 24 June 2003 at 1310 UTC, the student pilot was conducting circuit training at Full Sutton Airfield, Yorkshire. He had previously completed one dual and one solo flight of circuits, with four satisfactory landings. After a break, he was briefed for another session on Runway 22. The weather was good: surface wind 250°/5 kt, visibility >10 km, few clouds at 3,000 ft. Runway 22 was a dry grass surface 722 m long.
The student flew three uneventful circuits. On the final approach, with full flap selected, he considered his airspeed accurate and approach stable. As he began to flare, the aircraft touched down and bounced. He countered with full power, but there was no apparent engine response. He moved the control column forward and experienced a further bounce, after which the nose gear collapsed. The aircraft came to rest on the runway.
The supervising instructor, monitoring the flight, observed the initial bounce and subsequent porpoising action before the nose gear collapsed.
Examination and Findings
Two sets of propeller strikes were found on the runway, indicating the propeller was under power at the time of the strikes. A placard in the cockpit stated that the throttle must be advanced slowly or the engine will cut. The instructor considered that the probable reason for the apparent lack of engine response was that the student advanced the throttle too quickly.
The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the engine, propeller, and nose gear. No injuries were reported.