The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has called into question the spin recovery technique taught to a pilot involved in a Chipmunk crash near Coffs Harbour.
De Havilland DHC-1 VH-UPD crashed on 29 June 2014 with two people on board after it fell out of a loop and into a spin. Both pilot and passenger survived, but the aircraft was substantially damaged.
According to the ATSB investigation report released today, the aircraft stalled whilst inverted at the top of a loop "most likely as the result of excessive elevator input". The aircraft rolled into an upright spin from which the pilot was unable to recover.
The report found that the technique taught to the pilot was "not effective for recovering from such spins in the aircraft."
"The flying instructor who endorsed the pilot for spin recovery reported using the following method for spin recovery in the Chipmunk:
- throttle closed
- full opposite rudder
- neutral aileron
- move the elevators about two-thirds of the way from full back towards the central stick position but not all the way."
The UK CAA states that in a Chipmunk the stick should be pushed all the way forward, which agrees with CASA's standard spin recovery technique.
The ATSB concluded that the technique taught to the pilot was ineffective in a Chipmunk once the spin was full developed.
Another contributing factor the ATSB cited was the the pilot was not endorsed for loops in a Chipmunk.
The full report is on the ATSB website.