I was reading an article from the recent FLYING magazine and it described a mishap where a Cirrus student and his instructor crashed after attemtping a second "teardrop" turn - in this case it means turning back to the runway which you departed from after a (simulated in this case) engine failure.

I was wondering how many CFIs teach this. I remember being taught to land straight ahead - what was it - about 30 degrees either side of the flight path or so?

The article mentions that the FAA doesn't even consider this a valid maneuver and it is not a requirement for the PPL.

So........I'd like to hear what some of the CFIs out there have to say about this practice. Is there a valid reason? Pros/cons?

USMCFLYR