Incident Overview
On 20 December 2002, a Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee Archer II (registration G-EFIR) was conducting an instrument flying training flight from Le Touquet to Leicester Airfield. The aircraft, manufactured in 1980, was powered by a single Lycoming O-360-A4M piston engine. On board were two crew members (an instructor and a student) and one passenger. The commander, aged 53, held a Basic Commercial Pilot's Licence with an Instructor Rating and had accumulated 5,050 flying hours, including 1,100 hours on type.
Approach and Maneuvering
Upon arrival overhead Leicester Aerodrome, the student was to perform a locally produced training NDB instrument approach procedure for Runway 28. Weather conditions included a broken cloudbase at 900 feet, visibility of 4,000 metres in haze, and surface wind from 260° at 10 knots. During the first approach, the runway was sighted when the aircraft reached 800 feet above aerodrome level (aal), but the aircraft was considered too high to continue for a landing, so a missed approach was executed.
During the second approach, the pilot became visual with the runway at 600 feet aal and 2 nautical miles (nm) range, but the aircraft was displaced 0.5 nm to the north of the runway centreline. The decision was made to maneuver for a landing on Runway 22, involving a left turn followed by a right turn to align on final approach.
Collision and Damage
During the final right turn, the aircraft clipped the top of a tree, resulting in minor damage to the right wing and right elevator. No injuries were reported among the two crew members and one passenger.
Instructor's Assessment
The instructor explained that he intended for the student to experience the challenges of landing in poor visibility. He concluded that the student had experienced difficulty and that he, the instructor, should have taken control earlier when the aircraft became low on final approach.