Instructors Experience Is Questioned
The NTSB has released its report on
a March 21, 2008 crash in Rome, GA, that claimed the lives of a
student pilot and his instructor.
From the NTSB Report:
The private pilot was receiving instruction toward a multiengine
airplane rating from a CFI. The training syllabus for the flight
included introduction to engine failures on takeoff and initial
climb, as well as approaches and landings with an inoperative
engine. The airplane was observed climbing at slow rate of speed
after takeoff. When the airplane reached an altitude of 600 to 800
feet, it began a left turn, consistent with a return to the
airport, which was followed by a nose-down descent toward the
trees. The airplane impacted in a field and a postcrash fire
consumed the majority of the airplane, forward of the empennage.
Examination of the wreckage did not reveal evidence of any
preimpact malfunctions. The CFI had accumulated about 111 hours of
total multiengine flight experience, all in the same make and model
as the accident airplane. He received his CFI rating about 3 weeks
prior to the accident and had accumulated about 60 hours of
multiengine flight experience as a CFI.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines
the probable cause(s) of this accident as
follows:
The flight instructor's failure to maintain aircraft control
while maneuvering during a simulated engine failure. Contributing
to the accident was the flight instructor's lack of total
experience as a multiengine flight instructor.
The flight instructor, 34-year old Kwang Yi, held a commercial
pilot and flight instructor certificate with ratings for airplane
single-engine, airplane multiengine, and instrument airplane.
The private pilot, 24-year-old Lokesh Venkat, held a private
pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land and
instrument rating. He had accumulated 182 total hours of fight
experience, which included about 7 hours of multiengine flight
experience, all in the same make and model as the accident
airplane, which he began flying on March 11, 2008.
The aircraft, a Beech BE-76, N184AA (file photo, above), was
substantially damaged when it impacted terrain while maneuvering
after takeoff from the Richard B. Russell Airport (RMG), Rome,
Georgia. The certificated flight instructor and the certificated
private pilot were fatally injured. The flight took place under VFR
conditions, and no flight plan had been filed.