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On April 6, a smaller Socata TB 9-type propeller plane crashed during a school flight at Skavsta airport on the outskirts of Nyköping.
A student and an instructor sat on the plane.
From the beginning and up to 150 meters of altitude, everything was normal. Then the engine started to lose power and then came to a complete stop.
The instructor took control of the aircraft and attempted to return to the runway.
The U-turn was made at low speed and the left wing hit the ground. The aircraft then hit the ground with its belly and then with its right wing. The plane then turned and came to a stop with the left wing folded under the fuselage and the tail section interrupted. The engine was started.
Both the student and the instructor survived unscathed.
Accident investigation board: impossible twist
The Swedish Accident Investigation Board, SHK, has released its final report on the accident.
SHK states that “a return to the airport after an engine failure with a single-engine aircraft has rightly been described as ‘the impossible turn’, that is, the impossible turn.”
For a plane that has lost power and is already flying low and slow, the “impossible turn” can turn a difficult situation into a tragic event, according to SHK.
Flight school routine at low engine shutdowns was to land in a straight line. The instructor has said that he did not believe such a landing was possible to survive, so he opted to make a U-turn.
According to SHK, it is not certain that a landing in the direction of travel would have caused minor injuries in this case, but:
“However, conditions are better to limit damage to the aircraft and occupants if control is maintained during maneuvers, which is generally the case if the flight continues in the direction of travel.”
During the examination of the engine, a layer of black soot was found on several spark plugs. According to SHK, this may indicate that the fuel-air mixture has been too rich for some time, which meant that it ultimately did not start, with the result that the engine stalled.
