- Date
- October 5, 2006, 22:40 local (Oct 6, 2006, 03:40 UTC)
- Place
- Fargo, ND
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N275NDPiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20061005022959A
- Case key
- 64682
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 inadequate flare which resulted in a hard landing. Factors associated with the accident were the gusty winds and the pilot's lack of 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
The airplane was substantially damaged during a hard night landing. The private pilot was on a night cross country solo training flight when the accident occurred. She stated the landing was made on runway 18 with the winds reported as being from 150 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 19 knots. The pilot stated she encountered light turbulence on final approach and that the airspeed was 80 knots, which is higher than normal. The pilot stated that during the landing the nose gear and propeller struck the runway prior to the main gear due to the "...inadequate amount of flare... ." She stated the airplane then bounced twice prior to coming to a stop. The pilot reported having 87.5 hours of flight time of which 13 hours were as pilot-in-command.
Factual narrative
The airplane was substantially damaged during a hard night landing. The private pilot was on a night cross country solo training flight when the accident occurred. She stated the landing was made on runway 18 with the winds reported as being from 150 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 19 knots. The pilot stated she encountered light turbulence on final approach and that the airspeed was 80 knots, which is higher than normal. The pilot stated that during the landing the nose gear and propeller struck the runway prior to the main gear due to the "...inadequate amount of flare... ." She stated the airplane then bounced twice prior to coming to a stop. The pilot reported having 87.5 hours of flight time of which 13 hours were as pilot-in-command.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N275ND
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2842097
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- University of North Dakota
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- SFD · Sioux Falls, SD
- Destination
- FAR · Fargo, ND
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 18
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 88 total · 88 in this make and model · 13 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.