19981218033569A

Acft landed hard and veered off the rwy. (.19) on December 18, 1998, at 1545 hours pacific standard time, a Piper PA-28-180, N5413S, porpoised during landing on runway 26 at the Big Bear, California, airport. The aircraft, owned by aero haven, inc., sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the personal flight that had departed from lake havasu, Arizona, on the day of the accident. The flight was scheduled to terminate at Big Bear. A federal aviation administration inspector from the riverside, California, flight standards district office, responded to the accident site. The inspector interviewed a witness and the pilot and inspected the aircraft. The witness stated that the aircraft came into land and flared approximately 10 feet above the runway and stalled. The pilot stated that he did not have rudder control after landing and veered off the side of the runway. The inspector found that the rudder bellcrank was unattached. (.4) a witness at the airport reported that the aircraft flared approximately 10 feet above the runway, stalled, and hit the runway hard. Examination of the airplane reveale d that the landing gear structural mounting bolts were elongated, the engine mounts and both main spars were bent. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions. (-23) on landing at the Big Bear airport, the pilot bounced the aircraft. The aircraft became airborne, stalled and had a hard, nose low landing. The impact bent the nose gear back, causing the propeller to contact the runway. The impact also broke several sections of the lower engine mount tubes near the cluster joints and the engine mounting points were bent. The throttle cable was jambed by one of the broken engine mount components and could not be reduced to the idle position. The impact to the nose wheel also overextended the rudder cables and caused the rudder bell crank to fail. The main gear sustained damage to the attaching bolt holes. The pilot lost rudder control after the initial impact and was not able to reduce the throttle to idle, but was able to retain some control on the ground with limited nose wheel steering. The aircraft ran off the side of the runway, hitting one runway light. The aircraft sustained major damage, there were no injuries to the occupants.