Flight instructor’s unauthorised act near Kingaroy breaks safety rules

A pilot instructor and his student were lucky to avoid a serious crash after an unauthorised aerial manoeuvre pushed a small aircraft beyond its limits.

According to the investigation, an instructor with more than 900 hours of flying experience and a student pilot with around 125 hours of experience left Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport at 3.20pm, in a Diamond DA40 aircraft. Photo: Mitch Coad / ATSB report

A routine training flight near Kingaroy took a dangerous turn when an instructor attempted an unauthorised manoeuvre in an “impulsive” act and lost control of the plane, an investigation has found.

A report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau earlier this month revealed details of the training flight from February 12 this year.

According to the investigation, an instructor with more than 900 hours of flying experience and a student pilot with around 125 hours of experience left Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport at 3.20pm in a Diamond DA40 aircraft.

While flying 63km east of Kingaroy Airport, the instructor took control of the plane and attempted a wingover, a move they had not been trained in and without preparing the student.

“The instructor had completed spin recovery training but had not completed any other aerobatics training and did not hold an aerobatics endorsement,” the report read.

The flight path shows the plane tracked via Gatton and Sunshine Coast Airport before conducting stall and upset recovery training near Jimna and then returning to Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport. Photo: ATSB report / Airframe overspeed involving Diamond DA40, VH-EQF

During the attempted wingover, the plane dived steeply downward, rolled 360 degrees, far exceeding its certified 60 degree limit, and went beyond the strict “never exceeded” speed limit by 20 knots.

The plane was not certified for aerobatics, and the manual warned against stunt manoeuvres with more than 60 degrees of tilting.

“A wingover, being essentially half of a lazy eight, was a permitted manoeuvre in the aircraft provided the angle of bank did not exceed 60 degrees and the pitch angle remained less than 45 degrees,“ the report read.

“However, the instructor had not been trained in this manoeuvre and did not increase pitch sufficiently before applying a rapid roll input that quickly exceeded the aircraft’s bank angle limitation.”

Once recovered and normal flight was re-established, they continued as planned and the incident was not immediately reported, which suggested the instructor did not fully realise the potential for damage to the aircraft or the safety implications.

An example of a lazy eight manoeuvre. According to the report, a wingover is essentially half of a lazy eight. Photo: ATSB report / Airframe overspeed involving Diamond DA40, VH-EQF

The investigation found the instructor did not report the incident until the next day, when they marked the plane as “unserviceable” to ensure it wasn’t used again until an inspection was conducted.

“The instructor reported that, after landing, they thought about the attempted wingover, but also had to focus on preparation for another flight,” the report read.

“Later at home they recognised that the incident needed to be reported to the operator and intended to do so the next morning.”

According to the report, no one was injured and the plane was undamaged.

The report said as a result of the investigation, the company that operated the plane told all their instructors they must obtain prior permission when performing “non-training syllabus manoeuvres”, like the wingover.