NTSB Factual Report

On April 5, 2001, at 1455 hours mountain standard time, a Beech F-33A, N5544P, sustained substantial damage when it dragged a wing and rolled over during a touch-and-go at Mobile Airport, Mobile, Arizona. The airplane was operated under the provisions of CFR 14 Part 91 by Airline Training Center Arizona as a local area instructional flight. The certified flight instructor and the dual student suffered minor injuries. Visual metrological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight, which originated at the Phoenix Goodyear, Arizona, airport at 1420.

The flight instructor reported that after a touch-and-go, when the airplane was about 10-15 feet off the runway, the right wing lifted. The student pilot made no wind correction inputs. The flight instructor tried to stabilize the airplane but was unsuccessful. The left wing struck the runway and the airplane rolled inverted and came to rest off the side of the runway.

The flight instructor also reported that a variable wind condition existed at the airport. The air traffic at the uncontrolled airport self-directed a runway change minutes before the accident from runway 27 to runway 9 due to the variable wind.

NTSB Probable Cause

The certified flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the dual student who failed to recognize the extent of the crosswind and lost directional control. A factor in the accident was the variable wind condition.