Diamond Aircraft Ind Inc DA 20 C1 N919DA accident near Pueblo, Colorado

Probable cause

The student pilot’s decision to continue the approach and landing despite recognizing that the wind speed was above the published limit for solo flight, which resulted in a porpoised landing. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the flight instructor and supervisor of flying to direct the student to go around or divert.

NTSB analysis

The student pilot was flying the second of four required cross-country solo flights for his training syllabus. About 53 minutes before the accident, the supervisor of flying (SOF) directed the student to return to his home airport due to convective activity south and west of the airport. The airport tower controller cleared the flight to land, and, about 1 minute before the accident, reported that the wind was 200 degrees at 20 knots, which was the published wind limit for solo flight. As the student turned the airplane from the base to final legs in the airport traffic pattern, the controller reported that the wind had increased to 40 knots due to a thunderstorm gust front.

The student reported that he chose to continue the approach and landing despite recognizing that the wind speed was above the published limit for solo flight because he believed that the SOF and an airborne flight instructor, who had been advising him throughout the approach, would continue to advise him until landing. He added that he thought that he was expected to land unless specifically told to go around or divert. The student was also concerned about the thunderstorm approaching the airport from the southwest and believed the better option was to attempt the landing rather than go around and risk entering the weather. As the student landed the airplane, it porpoised multiple times before sliding to a stop.

Despite the high wind and thunderstorm conditions, neither the SOF nor the flight instructor directed the student to go around or divert to another airport. The flight instructor reported that he was overly concerned with distracting the student while he was on final, and the SOF had left the step desk area to walk outside and evaluate the weather.

The SOF was using an on-line, predictive weather service to assist with launch, recall, and divert decisions. As convective activity increased south and west of the airport during the hour leading up to the accident, the storms moved northeast more rapidly than forecast, which led to the SOF's late recall of the student.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN15LA275 for the full record.