CAP 10B, G-CPXC, 28 August 2009

CAP 10B, G-CPXC

Summary:

The aircraft was on a dual instructional sortie and had been landed by the student on Runway 24. The instructor stated that the student was having difficulty in the gusty conditions (reported surface wind 260° at 15 kt, gusting to 25 kt) so he took control to stabilise the aircraft during the landing roll. Retaining control, he slowed the aircraft to taxi speed and turned about 45° to the right but, with taxi power applied, the tail suddenly lifted. Fearing that the propeller was about to strike the ground, he reduced power and the tail dropped heavily, breaking the tailwheel mounting and causing damage to the bottom of the rudder. The instructor could only surmise that the aircraft had caught a “freak” gust. Although he believed he had been holding the control column aft at the time, he concedes that it may not have been fully back.

This overview has been truncated. Please refer to the official documents below for the complete canonical report.

62 © Crown copyright 2010 AAIB Bulletin: 2/2010 G-CPXC EW/G2009/08/28 INCIDENT Aircraft Type and Registration: CAP 10B, G-CPXC No & Type of Engines: 1 Lycoming AEIO-360-B2F piston engine Year of Manufacture: 2002 Date & Time (UTC): 28 August 2009 at 0930 hrs Location: Old Sarum Airfield, Wiltshire Type of Flight: Training Persons on Board: Crew - 2 Passengers - None Injuries: Crew - None Passengers - N/A Nature of Damage: Tailwheel mounting broken and bottom of rudder damaged Commander’s Licence: Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence Commander’s Age: 53 years Commander’s Flying Experience: 11,500 hours (of which 2 were on type) Last 90 days - 90 hours Last 28 days - 40 hours Information Source: Aircraft Accident Report Form submitted by the pilot The aircraft was on a dual instructional sortie and had been landed by the student on Runway 24. The instructor stated that the student was having difficulty in the gusty conditions (reported surface wind 260° at 15 kt, gusting to 25 kt) so he took control to stabilise the aircraft during the landing roll. Retaining control, he slowed the aircraft to taxi speed and turned about 45° to the right but, with taxi power applied, the tail suddenly lifted. Fearing that the propeller was about to strike the ground, he reduced power and the tail dropped heavily, breaking the tailwheel mounting and causing damage to the bottom of the rudder. The instructor could only surmise that the aircraft had caught a “freak” gust. Although he believed he had been holding the control column aft at the time, he concedes that it may not have been fully back.

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