An ATSB investigation into the fatal crash of an Aquila AT01 at an ALA in NSW has found that the crew attempted a touch-and-go toward rising terrain.
The aircraft was carrying a student and instructor on a CPL pre-test flight out of Bankstown in November 2020 when it crashed at Coombing Park airstrip near Carcoar. Both the student and instructor were killed in the crash.
According to the investigation report released this week, the crew attempted a touch-and-go on runway 07, which runs uphill towards rising terrain. The aircraft didn't get airborne again until well down the runway, leaving insufficent aircraft performance to clear the ground ahead.
“The ATSB found that pre-flight planning was likely not performed to identify if Coombing Park was suitable for flight training operations, which placed more importance on the conduct of the precautionary search to identify the rising terrain hazard in the overshoot area of the runway,” said ATSB Director Transport Safety Stuart Macleod.
“The precautionary search was conducted at a height and position that likely made assessing the hazard less effective.
The ATSB said the aircraft also likely had a tailwind of about 5 kt, which would have made a full-stop landing and a reciprocal departure a better option.
Investigators determined that the crew called the owner of Coombing Park by phone to request permission for a touch-and-go, but the owner presumed the aircraft was on downwind for runway 25, so granted permission.
According to data collected by investigators, OIS became airborne again 900 m into the 1200-m runway, and the crew conducted an evasive left turn with 22 degrees angle-of-bank soon after. The turn resulted in a decayed climb rate.
"The combination of loss in climb performance during the turn, trees and rising terrain in the new direction likely led to the pilots conducting an uphill forced landing," the ATSB concluded. "It is likely that the aircraft had insufficient performance for the uphill forced landing, leading to the aircraft colliding with the embankment of a small dam."
The incident has prompted the ATSB to issue a warning to pilots about electing to do a touch-and-go landing instead of a full-stop and standing take-off.
“Particularly at an unfamiliar airstrip, pilots must carefully consider the aerodrome characteristics to confirm if a touch-and-go is feasible, or if a full-stop landing and standing take-off should be completed instead,” Macleod said.
The ATSB produced a You Tube video to support the investigation's findings and further educate the GA community on the accident.
The full report is on the ATSB website.