- Date
- July 31, 2006, 09:10 local (13:10 UTC)
- Place
- Ormond Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N520XLLiberty XL2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Orlando Florida FSDO
- FAA report
- 20060731017079A
- Case key
- 64246
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing, and failure to maintain minimum airspeed during the subsequent aborted landing, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and impact with terrain. A factor associated with the accident was the inadvertent stall.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot was conducting his second supervised solo flight within the airport traffic pattern under Title 14, CFR Part 91, and was being observed by his flight instructor. The instructor reported that the airplane bounced hard on landing, and that he heard the student apply power to abort the landing. He said the airplane pitched up sharply, rolled to the left, and impacted the ground. The instructor had flown with the student in the accident airplane prior to the solo accident flight, and reported that there were no known mechanical issues with the airplane prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On July 31, 2006, about 0910 Alaska daylight time, a Liberty XL2 airplane, N520XL, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with terrain, following a hard landing, and loss of control at the Ormond Beach Airport, Ormond Beach, Florida. The airplane was being operated by the student pilot as a supervised solo instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo student pilot received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 2, the director of operations for the flight school said the flight instructor told him he completed a training flight with the student, and exited the airplane. He said the instructor told the student to take the airplane around the pattern solo. According to the director of operations, the instructor pilot said on the second supervised solo flight around the pattern, the student landed hard, and the airplane bounced twice. The instructor told him he heard the student apply full power in an attempt to abort the landing after the second bounce. He said the instructor reported that the airplane started a steep climb, rolled to the left, descended, and impacted the ground. The director of operations said the airplane sustained structural damage to both wings and the fuselage.
In a written report to the NTSB prepared by the head of training for the operator, dated August 3, the head of training reiterated the earlier statements made by the instructor.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N520XL
- Reported as
- Liberty XL2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0015
- Airframe hours
- 208
- Engine
- Continental IOF 240 B4, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Ormand Beach Aviation, Inc., doing business as Ormand Beach Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Laft Asset Management, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 1, 2006
- Departed
- OMN · Ormond Beach, FL
- Airport
- OMN · Ormand Beach Municipal airport, runway 35, 3,701 × 100 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 54
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2006
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 26 total · 14 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KOMN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.