- Date
- July 20, 2011, 15:16 local (19:16 UTC)
- Place
- Battle Creek, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N93TACirrus SR20
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 20, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20110720014589A
- Case key
- 81191
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 student pilot's improper flare 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 student pilot executed a go-around after the airplane's pitch angle for the approach was too high. He then attempted another approach with a lower angle but at a somewhat faster approach speed with idle engine power. During the landing attempt, the airplane landed hard, bounced twice before the student pilot applied full engine power and retracted flaps from 100 percent to 50 percent in order to execute a go-around. The airplane then veered off the left side of the runway and impacted terrain and a fence. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage and wing. The pilot student reported no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot executed a go-around after the airplane's descent angle for the approach was too high. He then attempted another approach with a lower descent angle but at a somewhat faster approach speed with idle engine power. During the landing attempt, the airplane experienced a hard landing in a flat attitude and bounced twice before the pilot applied full engine power and retracted flaps from 100 percent to 50 percent. The airplane then veered off the left side of the runway and impacted terrain and a fence. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage and wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93TA
- Reported as
- Cirrus SR20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1683
- Airframe hours
- 2,358
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental IO-360-ES, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Western Michigan University
- Registered owner
- Brown Aviation Lease, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · June 29, 2011
- Departed
- BTL · Battle Creek, MI
- Destination
- BTL · Battle Creek, MI
- Airport
- BTL · W K Kellogg Airport, runway 23L, 4,100 × 75 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
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 49 total · 49 in this make and model · 6 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- BTL
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 25, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 738 KB 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.