Introduction
On 5 April 2009, a Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, registration G-UANT, was involved in an accident during a training flight at Blackpool Airport. The student pilot, aged 27 with 44 hours flying experience, was the sole occupant and was uninjured.
History of the Flight
The student had completed an uneventful navigation exercise and returned to Blackpool. Air traffic control instructed him to extend his final approach to separate from a departing aircraft. During the subsequent approach, the student found himself slightly low and increased power. He touched down to the right of the runway, just beyond the runway numbers, with a higher than normal groundspeed due to the lack of headwind and increased power setting.
In an attempt to regain the centerline, the student applied left rudder. He reported that upon passing the centerline, the aircraft veered sharply left and departed the side of the runway. The nosewheel entered a ditch, causing the propeller to strike the ground. The aircraft sustained damage to the propeller and nosewheel fork.
Cause
The student pilot believed that, considering the higher than normal groundspeed of the aircraft, he applied too much rudder pedal to steer the aircraft back towards the centerline.