- Date
- September 6, 2010, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Berrien Springs, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N404SEPiper PA-28R-200
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 16, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20100906045699A
- Case key
- 77207
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 flight instructor's delayed remedial action, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The flight instructor and the pilot were performing a simulated forced landing. During the maneuver, the pilot did not maintain a stabilized airspeed on final approach. The airplane landed hard on the runway, sustaining substantial damage. Both pilots reported no pre impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine. The flight instructor stated that he should have aborted the landing at the first indication of an error by the pilot.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor and the pilot were performing a simulated forced landing. The flight spiraled down, the gear and flaps were lowered, and the airplane overshot the runway centerline on the turn to the final approach. The pilot did not maintain a stabilized airspeed on final. The airplane sustained substantial damage when the airplane landed hard on the runway. The flight instructor reported that he attempted to correct the flight "but the aircraft was too slow to respond due to the loss of airspeed caused by the final flare." Neither the pilot nor flight instructor listed any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. The flight instructor's safety recommendation stated that he "should have aborted the landing at the first indication of an error by the pilot."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N404SE
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7435223
- Airframe hours
- 1,200
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360 SER, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Andrews University
- Registered owner
- Andrews University
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- C20 · Berrien Springs, MI
- Destination
- C20 · Berrien Springs, MI
- Airport
- C20 · Andrews University Airpark, runway 13, 4,161 × 75 ft
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 1, 2009
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,960 total · 29 in this make and model · 2,772 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 322 total · 50 in this make and model · 199 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- BEH
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 5, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.