What happened
On 26 July 2021, a training flight operating under Part 141 regulations ended in an accident at Wintervogel Airfield in the Western Cape. The flight, involving a student pilot and a flight instructor, departed from Morning Star Airfield in Cape Town. The aircraft, a Cessna 172M Skyhawk II with registration ZS-MDF, proceeded through an uneventful flight until the approach phase.
As the student pilot prepared to land on Runway 02, the aircraft was configured with 20 degrees of flaps. While the wind was estimated at 10 knots with gusts up to 15 knots, a left crosswind component impacted the aircraft just before touchdown. This resulted in the student pilot losing directional control, causing the aircraft to drift right of the runway centerline and land heavily on the wet grass adjacent to the runway. The impact caused the nose gear strut to collapse and the propeller to strike the ground. There were no injuries to the two occupants, though the aircraft suffered substantial damage.
The investigation
SACAA AIID reviewed the details of the landing sequence and environmental conditions. The investigation established that the aircraft was likely unstable during its final approach. This instability led to a hard landing on the unpaved surface. The subsequent loss of control caused the aircraft to veer off the runway, leading to the structural failure of the nose gear.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was an unstable approach which resulted in a hard landing.
- A left crosswind contributed to the pilot losing directional control of the aircraft.
- The aircraft drifted off the runway centerline onto wet grass, leading to the collapse of the nose gear strut.