What happened
On 23 May 2008, a Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II, registration G-BGYH, was conducting a cross-country navigation exercise from Full Sutton Airfield in Yorkshire. The flight was being operated as a training mission with a student pilot at the controls, accompanied by a flying instructor and two passengers. The weather conditions were favorable, with a surface temperature of 16°C and winds from 060° at 15 knots.
As the aircraft was on short finals for Runway 04, it began to descend below the intended approach path. The instructor pilot noted what appeared to be a downdraught of wind affecting the aircraft. Although the instructor instructed the student to increase power to stabilize the descent, the student failed to correct the flight path. The instructor subsequently took control and applied power, but the descent rate could not be arrested. During the landing, the right main landing gear struck a lip at the start of the grass runway, causing the right undercarriage leg to detach from the aircraft. The engine was shut down by the instructor, and while the right wing and flap sustained damage, the aircraft came to a halt without fire. There were no injuries to the four occupants.
The investigation
The investigation established that the aircraft's landing weight was 989 kg, which was 67 kg below the maximum allowable all-up weight. The investigation focused on the sequence of events during the final approach and the impact of the wind conditions on the aircraft's stability. It was determined that the right undercarriage leg separated from the wing upon contact with the runway edge.