- Date
- May 11, 2009, 12:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Danville, PA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8403RPiper PA-28-140
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 10, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090511010689A
- Case key
- 73827
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 failure to maintain control during a landing.
Findings · 2
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 was landing at the conclusion of a cross-country solo flight. He reported that he encountered windshear about 3 feet above Runway 27, which caused a loss of control and he touched down on the nosewheel. A certificated flight instructor, who witnessed the accident, stated that the airplane was "about 20-30 feet" and began an "abrupt descent." The airplane impacted the runway hard. The impact resulted in a serious injury to the student pilot and minor damage to the airplane. The winds reported at an airport 12 miles southwest of the accident location, about the time of the accident, were variable from 330 degrees to 060 degrees at 7 knots. Neither the student pilot nor a Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported any preexisting mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane. The student pilot reported 87 hours of flight experience in the same make and model as the accident airplane.
Factual narrative
The student pilot was landing at the conclusion of a cross-country solo flight. The student pilot reported that he encountered windshear about 3 feet above runway 27, which caused a loss of control and touchdown on the nose wheel. A certificated flight instructor, who witnessed the accident, stated that the airplane was "about 20-30 feet" and began an "abrupt descent." The airplane impacted the runway hard. The impact resulted in a serious injury to the student pilot and minor damage to the airplane. The winds reported at an airport 12 miles southwest of the accident location, about the time of the accident, were variable from 330 degrees to 060 degrees at 7 knots. Neither the student pilot nor a Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported any mechanical failures or malfunctions of the airplane. The student pilot reported 87 hours of flight experience in the same make and model as the accident airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8403R
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-22280
- Airframe hours
- 3,948
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 9, 2008
- Departed
- N12 · Lakewood, NJ
- Destination
- 8N8 · Danville, PA
- Airport
- 8N8 · Danville Airport, runway 27, 3,000 × 60 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 60
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 93 total · 87 in this make and model · 22 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- SEG, 12 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 20, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 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.
Other investigations on N8403R · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.