- Date
- September 16, 1993, 13:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Griffith, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2353KPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 20, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930916034509A
- Case key
- 9315
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing by the pilot-in- command.
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 attempting a full stop landing. The airplane touched down hard and ballooned. A witness estimated the airplane went 25-30 feet in the air. The student then added power to execute a go-around, but the airplane was in a nose-down attitude. The airplane struck the runway collapsing the nose landing gear.
Factual narrative
On September 16, 1993, at 1315 eastern standard time, a Piper PA- 38-112, N2353K, sustained substantial damage during a bounced landing at the Griffith Airport, Griffith, Indiana. The solo student pilot was not injured. The instructional flight originated at the Gary Regional Airport, Gary, Indiana, at 1200. No flight plan was filed, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
A witness reported the airplane touched down and ballooned about 25-30 feet in the air. He stated it sounded like the pilot then applied power. He saw the airplane contact the runway nose down, and the nose landing gear collapse.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2353K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-79A0587
- Airframe hours
- 2,923
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gary Jet Center
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Special, Provisional (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 4, 1993 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- GYY · Gary, IN
- Airport
- 05C · Griffith, runway 26, 4,013 × 50 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
- 66
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 95 total · 95 in this make and model · 41 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GYY, 7 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.