PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 73.6; Flight Crew Total 332.6; Flight Crew Type 303
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Ground Excursion Runway
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged
Human Factors
On Date; we experienced a runway excursion event at ZZZ. I was the CFI on board and I was providing flight training to a student pilot working towards their private pilot certificate. The excursion occurred on our initial takeoff out of the airport. The student pilot was initially on the controls and we were attempting a soft field takeoff on Runway XXR which is 3;XXX feet long by XX feet wide. Everything was normal up until we began to rotate which was around 40 kts. Upon rotation; we had too much aft elevator pressure causing our nose to pitch up to around 16 degrees. Along with this high pitch; too much right rudder input was made causing a yaw and roll to the right. We departed the right side of the runway and then we reduced the power to idle and slowed down in a straight line. There were no injuries and only minor damage to the propeller and skidplate. A few notable factors that I think attributed to this incident are as follows: The excessive pitch up reduced our visibility over the cowling and prevented us from noticing the extent to which we were drifting off to the right. The reduction of left wind correction during the takeoff roll. And the application of too much right rudder causing a further drift to the right. As for corrective action to prevent similar situations in the future: As a CFI I could improve my defensive positioning in a way to prevent excessive pitch and rudder inputs. I can set more strict personal standards in when to take over flight controls as well as making sure to be more distinctive in taking controls. And I can improve my ground instruction by providing more distinct visual references for students to look for when making control inputs. Overall; this was an unfortunate situation but I do look forward to learning from this mistake and helping to ensure others don't fall into the same situation.
PA-28 Flight Instructor reported excessive pitch up and right rudder input by the student resulted in a runway excursion during takeoff.