What happened
On the morning of September 23, 1998, a Piper PA 34-200, registered ZS-LRX, was conducting a multi-engine conversion training session at Port Alfred Aerodrome. The flight was part of a training operation involving an instructor and a student pilot. Having already completed several successful approaches, the crew began a glide approach from 3,500 feet with the throttles set to zero thrust.
As the aircraft approached the flare point, the instructor observed that the airspeed had dropped to approximately 100 mph, which was 5 mph below the required target speed of 105 mph. Although the instructor alerted the student to the low power setting, the student did not increase thrust. In an attempt to prevent a hard landing, the instructor advanced the throttles and applied back pressure on the control column; however, the aircraft struck the runway with excessive force. The impact caused the undercarriage to collapse, resulting in the aircraft sliding roughly 200 meters along Runway 28 before coming to a stop. There were no fatalities and no injuries reported among the four occupants.
The investigation
SACAA AIID examined the circumstances surrounding the approach and the crew's response to the deteriorating flight conditions. The investigation focused on the transition from the glide approach to the landing phase and the specific actions taken by both the student and the instructor during the final moments before touchdown.