The Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) said in May 2019 a relatively new flight instructor managed to wrestle control of a Cessna 152 away from a student pilot at just 400 feet agl after the aircraft abruptly pitched down into a steep dive at 2,000 feet agl. The instructor sustained minor injuries while the student was uninjured. The flight instructor and student terminated the lesson after recovering from the dive.
Flight Instructor Learns Valuable Lesson About Flying with a New Student
Key Takeaways:
- A student pilot lost control of a Cessna 152 during a trim demonstration, leading to a steep dive that the flight instructor recovered at 400 feet AGL.
- The instructor's hands were not in a ready position, and they sustained a head injury, initially delaying their response to the aircraft's uncontrolled pitch-down.
- The instructor's delayed neutralization of the elevator trim during recovery caused significant in-flight overload and near-total structural failure of the right horizontal stabilizer.
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