Accident / Incident | Cessna 172 Crashes into Hangar

Recently a video of a Cessna C172 Accident has been shared all over different social media platforms. Personally it was sent to me through Whatsapp, Instagram, and Youtube. For those of you who haven't seen the video yet you can take a look before we go through it and breakdown what happened and how it can be avoided.

 

Introduction

A Cessna 172M Skyhawk (C-GJQB) was involved at an accident at Toronto's Buttonville Municipal Airport (CYKZ) on 24 August 2020. The aircraft was registered to Canadian Flyers International and was operated by a student pilot (sole occupant).

The student pilot was on a solo flight conducting circuit training on runway 33. The accident happened during an attempted landing / attempted go around (I will discuss that later).

What Went Wrong?

Disclaimer: This is my personal view on what went down based solely on what is seen in the video that was shared.

I would also like to stress that any criticism of the student pilot's actions, made in this article, is for the sole purpose of breaking down the actions and discussing how a pilot could avoid getting into a similar situation and / or recover from it. 

The landing

To start off, lets go through the landing and what went wrong to begin with. The aircraft was coming in fast, that is clear due to the relatively flat attitude and long flare. You can see aircraft touchdown at 00:03 then you can see the student pilot release the right rudder input (00:05-00:06). Immediately after releasing the right rudder input the aircraft began drifting to the left of the center-line.

At this point a light input of right rudder (with left aileron to counteract the secondary effect of yaw) to align the aircraft with the runway direction should have stopped the aircraft from drifting further to the left. The student pilot could have ended up with a long but safe landing parallel to, and to the left of, the center line. 

Instead, you can see him hesitantly pull back slightly on the yoke, apply right aileron and a minuscule amount of right rudder to correct the drift (00:07-00:08). The decision to pull back on the yoke would have reduce the weight supported by the nose wheel (i.e. less nose wheel contact with the ground), this would have reduced the aircraft's inherent ability to directionally stabilize itself on the ground. 

Note: Taildraggers (also known as conventional landing gear aircrafts) were inherently directionally unstable on the ground while Tricycle gear aircraft (such as the C172 involved in the accident) are inherently directionally stable on the ground when sufficient weight is applied on the wheels.

Unfortunately, the student pilot did not make the necessary rudder input and the situation escalated to a point where a recovery was no longer possible. The student pilot recognized that and took the best action he could take in that situation. He went around...

The Go-Around

The Go-Around! That was the best, worst executed decision the student pilot had taken. If you watch the video, you'll notice that he carries out the correct actions, FULL POWER, RIGHT RUDDER, and PITCH UP. So what went wrong?

Its easy to tell what was probably going through the student pilot's mind when he initiated the go around. I would say it was something along the lines of "DON'T GO LEFT, I NEED TO TURN RIGHT NOW". 

Hence, I think, because of what was probably going through his mind, along with his go around training, that immediately translated into RIGHT RUDDER NOW! Instead of smoothly and steadily applying right rudder input to counteract the undesirable propeller effects he ended up slamming in an abundant amount of right rudder. He ended up over compensating for both the drift and propeller effects.

 At that point he could have corrected the situation by immediately and smoothly easing off of the right rudder but probably was unable due to him being in a state of shock (to be discussed later).

The large rudder input was maintained and the aircraft went from a situation where a threat of runway excursion to the left could have happened to a situation where a runway excursion to the right of the runway became unavoidable. 

Survival Instincts

Option 1: Get Airborne

From this point on-wards his survival instincts had taken over, and any previous training or theory learned was thrown out of the window. His instincts kicked in kicked in, and he was in Fight-or-Flight mode. This was unlike any situation he had trained for and hence there were no more muscle-memory actions which he could carry out.

He saw the in front of him and immediately thought I need to get airborne. He proceeded to pull back on the yoke further in an attempt to get airborne, while completely disregarding his airspeed. Getting off the runway and onto an unpaved and uneven surface probably strongly effected the aircraft's ability to accelerate. 

In the area between the runway and the taxiway a slight ditch exists, the aircraft was probably able to fly over that ditch due to its airspeed and ground effect.  

Option 2: Don't Hit the Hangar

Once he realized that getting airborne was not going to happen his instinct decided "at least lets not hit the hanger".

In the video, you can see him turn the yoke fully to the right (00:17) and then attempt to reach for the throttle (00:18) presumably to retard the throttle. In my opinion, those actions were taken as he completely abandoned any hope of getting airborne and in an effort to avoid hitting the hangar.

Once again, this was the best, worst executed decision in that situation. If anyone of us was placed in his exact situation, unable to get airborne and heading straight towards a hangar, we would have probably decided to turn away from the hangar and that is why I think it was the best decision at that point. 

Notice the full right aileron deflection seconds before the crash.

However, his execution of the decision was another indication to how his training was thrown out of the proverbial window and basic instincts took over. At the beginning of flight training most student pilots would have had more experience behind the wheel of a car than flying an aircraft. And if you were heading to a building in your car, you would instinctively turn the wheel away from the building and that's what he did. He used his ailerons which at low speeds and especially on / or in close proximity to the ground are much less effective at changing an aircraft's direction than using the rudder.

Lessons Learnt

There are 2 two main subjects that I would like to shed some light on that we could all learn from.

1. The Startle Effect

"In aviation, startle effect can be defined as an uncontrollable, automatic reflex that is elicited by exposure to a sudden, intense event that violates a pilot’s expectations" - FAA Advisory Circular 120-111 dated 4/14/15 - Upset Prevention and Recovery Training

The startle effect is a topic that is not as commonly discussed in general aviation and initial flight training. The startle effect and the severity of it's effects where mainly highlighted to me during my training in the airlines.

The aftermath of the startle effect can continue to impair a pilots judgement for up to 30-60 seconds after the initial event that caused it.

This is why strict adherence to SOPs and training is of paramount importance after the initial startle effect. The brain might be unable to process the situation quickly enough and we must reply on pre-trained procedures that have been ingrained into out muscle memory.

For more information regarding the startle effect you can click here

2. Go Around Training

Since the beginning of any pilots' training a we are taught that a Go-Around is the safest option when something goes wrong and that it is always an option. Its like keeping that extra bit of cash hidden in case you ever need it. 

The problem with Go-Around training is that it is usually conducted in a controlled environment. Go around training is usually conducted from a safe height above the ground following a stable approach, and the student pilot is generally aware that go around will be practiced. We are seldom exposed to situations were a go around is necessary following a startle effect because we are trained to stay away from such situations.

I will personally incorporate those thoughts when I am with my students in the future by making sure that I expose them to go-arounds in a more realistic environment.

Conclusion

Thankfully, the student pilot was able to walk away from the accident with no major injuries and will hopefully be back to flying depending on the outcome of the investigation.

I would also like to commend the pilot on never stopping to fly the aircraft, even as the situation escalated he continued to fly the aircraft as far into the crash as possible. At no point did he give up or stop trying to improve his chances of survival. 

It must also be noted that it is easy to forget how foreign of a concept flying was when we all started, and with that said I hope he gets back to flying as soon as possible, takes on all the lessons learnt and sees this as an opportunity to become a safer pilot.