ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 269277
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| Date: | Friday 12 June 2020 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Diamond DA40 Diamond Star TDI |
| Owner/operator: | Fujairah Aviation Academy |
| Registration: | A6-FAG |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Al-Fujairah-Fujairah International Airport (FJR/OMFJ) -
 United Arab Emirates
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Al-Fujairah-Fujairah International Airport (FJR/OMFJ) |
| Al-Fujairah-Fujairah International Airport (FJR/OMFJ) | |
| Investigating agency: | GCAA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 12 June 2020, a trainee pilot from Fujairah Aviation Academy departed Fujairah International Airport at 09:50 local time for a training flight in the designated training area.
The flight was the fourth one in a sequence of four flights. As per the training flight records, the trainee pilot had conducted solo flights on 9, 10, and 11 June 2020 before the accident flight.
However, before these four solo flights, the investigation noticed from the training records that the trainee pilot had conducted a dual flight with an instructor as a refresher since he had not flown for a period of 72 days. This was due to the restrictions imposed on flying activities at the academy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in compliance with the authorities’ requirements. According to the training flight records, the trainee pilot’s flight prior to the break caused by the pandemic was on 25 March 2020, and she made her first dual flight after the COVID-19 restrictions were eased on 6 June 2020.
As per the training report of the flight conducted on 6 June 2020, the flight was planned as an extra flight to refresh the trainee pilot flying skills after a long pause. She completed this training flight to a satisfactory level with some items debriefed, such as: Paying attention to coolant temperature during climb; landings need to be consistent; and backpressure application needs to be paid attention to during flare for landing. On 8 June 2020, the trainee pilot conducted another dual flight which covered basic instrument flight rule (IFR) maneuvering skills, which was completed to a satisfactory level as shown by the training records.
On 12 June, the accident flight was the first solo flight for the trainee pilot after the two dual flights post COVID-19 lockdown. As stated in her interview, the trainee pilot flew to the training area to practice some maneuvers. According to her statement, she had successfully completed all the tasks required during the flight.
The trainee pilot stated that upon her return, she noticed engine control unit (ECU) B fault light illuminating on the cockpit display accompanied by a beep. She proceeded normally without declaring an emergency. The air traffic control (ATC) at Fujairah International Airport advised the trainee pilot about the availability of runway 29 and runway 11 for landing. The wind data as per the weather report provided to the trainee pilot was indicating 6 knots wind speed, blowing from 60 degrees.
As per the trainee pilot statement, she chose to land on runway 11 for a more stable descent and to extend the downwind leg in preparation for landing. The trainee pilot stated that she did not note any abnormalities after detecting the ECU B fault indication and she felt that the aircraft was normally functioning. She also stated that she did not declare an emergency requesting landing as soon as possible and she did not apply the respective checklist for such failure.
The trainee pilot stated that during the first approach, the airspeed was about 75 knots and the aircraft was fully configured for landing. She stated that she felt that the aircraft was low on the approach and this was reflected by noticing three red precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights confirming that she was below the approach profile. She added power to ascend and return to the approach profile and align the aircraft with the aiming point on the runway. In order to touch down on the runway, she brought the power to idle and flared the aircraft for touchdown. However, she stated that she did not know what happened at this moment as the aircraft bounced instead of firmly touching down on the runway. She applied power for a go-around after the bounce and felt that she is under stress due to the nature of the maneuver.
The trainee pilot stated that during the second approach in the circuit, she “felt that there was something wrong with the aircraft performance and felt tired because of the heat and humidity.” She flew the second approach in a similar manner to the first approach and to the same runway (runway 11). When approaching the aiming point, she brought the power back to idle and flared for the touchdown. The aircraft bounced in the same manner as during the first touchdown. The trainee pilot considered that she had no choice but to fly another go-around.
During the third approach, the trainee pilot felt that she was under pressure coming back for the final approach aligning herself for runway 11, and the third approach was flown in the same manner of the previous two approaches. She stated that the aircraft was behaving abnormally during this approach. She added that she did not know what happened during the flare, but realized that the aircraft had impacted the runway in such an attitude that the propeller had been damaged.
The trainee pilot contacted the Tower informing them that the aircraft had suffered damage.
Causes
The Air Accident Investigation Sector determines that the cause of the Accident was the inappropriate landing technique performed by the trainee pilot, which led to aircraft bounce and subsequent forced touchdown. The nose landing gear detached and the propeller contacted the runway surface causing substantial damage to the aircraft.
Contributing Factors
The Air Accident Investigation Sector determines that the following factors had contributed to the accident:
(a) The inconsistent training and long lapse times between flights during the pre-solo training stage which could not maintain consistent level of the trainee pilot performance.
(b) The solo consolidation after resuming flying after COVID-19 lockdown easement, included a low number of landings which was initially a challenging phase for the trainee pilot as proven by the training records and the instructor’s comments.
(c) The lack of adequate training on emergency procedure training. That topic was handled in one solo consolidation flight conducted after return from COVID-19.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
GCAA
Images:
Photo(c): GCAA
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 31-Oct-2021 10:26 | harro | Added |
| 08-Mar-2022 23:27 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Photo] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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