Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240; Flight Crew Total 1400; Flight Crew Type 100
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification; Distraction; Confusion
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Ground Excursion Runway
Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control
Human Factors
According to my student: While he was doing solo touch/goes at ZZZ; on his second landing; he touched down left of centerline. While rolling with the throttle in the idle position; he turned off the carb heat and began to retract the flaps. The nose of the plane began to veer right. When he applied left rudder he said the plane felt as if it would skid; spin or drop the nose onto the ground. Therefore; he applied just enough left rudder to straighten the nose wheel and rolled onto the grass adjacent to the runway. No contact was made with any runway signage or lights. There was no damage to plane; runway; or grass area; and there were no injuries. Tower cleared for continued movement to the Alpha taxiway. He continued to the transient parking area and called ZZZ Tower per their instructions.As the instructor; my student called me to inform me he had run off the runway; no damage had occurred; and he had spoken with the tower and FAA. I did not know he was flying by himself that day and had received no notification from him. I asked him to recount what happened to me several times trying to understand what happened. I called the Tower and confirmed that the winds were variable at 3 knots and visibility was very good. Based on his recount; I do not fully understand how he thought going off the runway was his safest option. I have not offered him any training or instruction that would indicate that was good judgment. He has never landed far off centerline with me in the plane and has never demonstrated that he would ever act in such a way. He and I have logged extensive dual hours at ZZZ doing pattern work; and he has never flown in a way that indicated he would act or make a decision in this manner. He had demonstrated consistently with me that he was able to maintain directional control of the airplane both in the air and on the ground. I have informed him that all of his solo endorsements are no longer valid. I was planning to spend an extensive amount of time with him on the ground and in the air addressing what happened yesterday through re-training; but he has decided to discontinue his flight training at this time. As a result of this incident; I have re-clarified to all students that they must inform me of any time they plan to solo and must receive my permission before doing so. I have also implemented a strict rule of no solo touch and goes. Solo pattern work will from now on only be full stop landings.
While doing solo touch/goes at ZZZ; on my second landing; I touched down just left of center. While rolling with the throttle in the idle position; I turned off the carb heat and began to retract the flaps. The nose of the plane began to veer right. Applying left rudder the plane felt as if it would skid; spin or drop the nose onto the ground and I was too far toward the edge of the runway. I felt it best; to reduce the chances of injury or damage. I applied just enough left rudder to straighten the nose movement and rolled onto the grass adjacent to the runway. No contact was made with any runway signage or lights. No damage to plane; runway or grass area and there were no injuries. Tower cleared for continued movement to the taxiway. I continued to the transient parking area and called ZZZ Tower per their instructions. As a result of this occurrence; training has been suspended for evaluation and scheduling with CFI.
Instructor and student pilots reported the student experienced a runway excursion on landing rollout during a solo flight.