DA40 Diamond Star
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 112; Flight Crew Total 800
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Ground Incursion Runway
Flight Crew Executed Go Around / Missed Approach; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Weather
It was a training flight returning from a cross-country trip. Neither the TAF nor METAR indicated gust during our preflight briefing. I; the instructor pilot; asked the student to practice a short field landing on Runway XXR; more specifically the desired touchdown point was the numbers 'XX' and the letter 'R'. In selecting such a landing spot the aiming spot must be a point before the desired landing area; in this case the blast pad prior to the runway threshold. The student was on final at the appropriate airspeed and glide path was stable; aiming point was also appropriate; power reduction was proper. We transitioned into ground effect and suddenly I noticed the aircraft begin to rapidly lose altitude; speed also decreased. I called for a go-around and I ensured maximum power by pushing the throttle along with the student and controlling pitch to prevent increase drag; knowing that any further loss in altitude and speed would cause us to land on the blast pad. As the go-around procedure was initiated the thrust was not enough to overcome the drag and the aircraft's main gear made contact with the blast pad. During the go-around the tower announced winds at 160 at 5 kts. gusting to 10. The sudden loss of headwind could be a factor in this unintentional situation. Corrective actions would be to call for a wind check on final when becoming established in a traffic pattern; adding half gust factor to approach speed; as well as no longer selecting the numbers as practice.
DA40 Instructor reported wind shift on final that caused his student to touch down on the blast pad before the runway threshold.