- Date
- February 28, 1993, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Napoleon, OH
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5220WPiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930228012489A
- Case key
- 11909
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 intentional stall resulting in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the premature flare which led to an exceeded proper touchdown point and the student pilot's lack of overall experience.
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
During the landing flare, the airplane began to float down the runway and drift to the right of the centerline. The pilot stated that he thought he was running out of runway so he purposely stalled the airplane to get it to the ground. He said the airplane dropped to the runway about 6 feet, resulting in a hard landing. He stated the left main wheel broke off and the airplane skidded off the runway right of the centerline. The firewall sustained substantial damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5220W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- PA28-161
- Airframe hours
- 2,218
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- S & P Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- Julie A. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 19, 1992 · 90 hours before
- Airport
- OH17 · Henry County, runway 28, 4,500 × 65 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 58
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 24 total · 17 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 9 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CLE, 100 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N5220W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.