Cessna 182T Skylane, G-MPLA, 30 July 2012
Cessna 182T Skylane, G-MPLA
Summary:
The student pilot was briefed and authorised for a solo navigation exercise from Oxford Airport to Filton Airport and return, with a visual approach and touch-and-go landing at Filton. Runway 27 was in use at Filton, with a surface wind from 270° at 12 kt. The student pilot reported that, during the landing at Filton, she flared the aircraft too early and a high sink rate developed. She applied full power to go-around, but could not prevent the aircraft contacting the runway.
The student pilot subsequently realised that the aircraft required considerably more left rudder pedal input than she was used to and, after landing at Oxford, discovered that that she was unable to apply right rudder pedal.
The aircraft had suffered damage to the forward fuselage, including to the rudder control mechanism. An investigation by the training establishment determined that the most likely cause of the reported handling difficulty and damage to the aircraft was a hard landing. It was thought likely that this resulted from the student pilot encountering an unfamiliar runway aspect at Filton, so changes to internal procedures concerning the use of wider than normal runways by solo students were introduced.
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