The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has reminded pilots of the importance of making an early decision to go-around in the wake of an incident at Victoria's Apollo Bay.
Cessna 206 VH-WZX was on scenic flight operations from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles in January when it struck a fence and a tree after going around on runway 27 at Apollo Bay. The aircraft was able to continue the circuit and land. There were no injuries to the pilot and five passengers.
The aircraft touched down in the normal touch down zone and bounced, and despite the pilot adding a touch of power, the aircraft continued to float and bounced twice more. Deciding there was now not enough runway left to safely land, the pilot instigated a go-around.
"The pilot applied full power and recalled the aircraft nose pitched up to a high attitude," the ATSB report states. "The pilot observed that the aircraft did not climb away from the rising ground as expected, and as the aircraft passed the end of the runway at low height, he retracted the flaps one stage to 20 degrees in an attempt to improve climb performance.
"The aircraft did not climb sufficiently to clear the airfield boundary fence and the left undercarriage leg struck the fence, sustaining minor damage, including fracturing the brake line."
Despite striking the fence, the aircraft remained airborne and the pilot reduced the flap to 10 degrees. During evasive manoeuvres the right wing tip struck a tree canopy.
The ATSB noted that the aircraft was loaded to its MTOW of 1633 kg, and that the pilot's actions in the go-around were not consistent with the aircraft flight manual
"After commencing the go-around, the pilot did not immediately follow the go-around procedure to retract the flaps to the 20-degree position as directed by the aeroplane flight manual. It is likely this, combined with the upslope of the runway and the heavy load of the aircraft, prevented the aircraft from climbing sufficiently to clear the airfield boundary fence.
"After the aircraft struck the fence, the pilot did not follow the correct go-around procedure and raised the flaps to 10 degrees before allowing the aircraft speed to increase and ensuring all obstacles had been cleared. The flap retraction resulted in a loss of lift which led to the aircraft descending and impacting the canopy of a tree 225 m beyond the airfield boundary fence."
ATSB Executive Director Nat Nagy says the incident highlights the need for pilots to execute an early go-around as recommended by the aircraft’s manual.
“The best way to avoid a late go-around is to anticipate and plan an early decision point for when to commence a go-around,” Nagy said. “We support the advice of the Federal Aviation Administration, who suggest that if the landing cannot be made in the first third of the runway, you should execute a go-around.
“In this instance, the go-around was not only late but was not carried out in line with the aircraft’s manual, making it harder for the aircraft to avoid obstacles and increasing the risk of collision.
“While the outcome of the incident was fairly minor, it could have been much worse."
Apollo Bay is a notoriously tricky airport, especially for pilots who are unfamiliar with it. Although sealed, the runway is only six metres wide, 740 m long and has a 2% upslope to the west. There is also high ground to the west and south of the airfield, and mechnical turbulence off the high ground is common.
The full investigation report into the incident is on the ATSB website.