On 31 October 2013, a flight instructor and student pilot were conducting flying training in a Beech A36 (Bonanza) aircraft, registered VH-YEN, at Camden Airport, New South Wales. The purpose of the flight was to enable the student to obtain an aircraft design feature, retractable undercarriage (landing gear) endorsement.

After completing about 45 minutes upper air training in the local training area, they obtained a clearance from ATC for a straight in approach to runway 06 at Camden.

During the approach, the student completed the pre-landing checks, which included extending the landing gear and selecting flap. At about 1445 EDT the aircraft touched down about 50-100 m past the runway threshold and about 2m left of the centreline. The instructor advised the student to re-align the aircraft with the runway centreline. The instructor focussed his attention outside the cockpit watching the re-alignment.

At about the same time, the student became concerned about the length of runway remaining and quickly moved to retract the flaps and prepare the aircraft for take-off. The student had completed all his recent training in a Cessna 182 type aircraft which has the flap control to the right of the power quadrant. This led to him inadvertently manipulating the landing gear lever. The instructor attempted to recover the aircraft, but it veered right and the nose dug into the grass verge alongside the runway.

As a result of the occurrence, the aircraft operator has advised the ATSB that the company have changed their procedure for retractable design type endorsements. From now, instructors undertaking this type of endorsement training with students are required to conduct a full stop landing on the first approach.

Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin Issue - 27