Cosmos PHASE III N6466 accident near Fernandina Beach, Florida

Probable cause

The student pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control and the flight instructor’s failure to adequately monitor the student pilot before aircraft control was lost at a low altitude.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor reported that, during the initial climb for the instructional flight in the weight-shift-control trike, the student pilot was manipulating the controls. About 700 ft above ground level, the aircraft suddenly entered a "hard" left bank. The flight instructor took control of the aircraft but was unable to recover control before the aircraft impacted terrain in a nose-down attitude, which resulted in substantial damage. The flight instructor did not recall if there was a mechanical malfunction or failure but reported that the student pilot was known to freeze on the controls and the student could have been fighting him.

It is likely that the flight instructor was not adequately monitoring the student pilot when the aircraft entered the excessive turn and that, due to the low altitude, he did not have sufficient time to recover control before the collision.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR18LA132 for the full record.