- Date
- June 1, 2009, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Elberton, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8909WPiper PA28
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- 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
- 20090601047379A
- Case key
- 73956
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 recovery from a bounced landing.
Findings · 3
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 stated that he returned from a solo cross-country flight and entered the traffic pattern for landing. During touchdown, the airplane's nose pitched up and the pilot subsequently pulled back on the flight controls. The airplane became airborne, then settled and bounced a second time on the runway. After a third and more pronounced bounce, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane slid to a stop toward the left side of the runway. When the pilot was asked how the accident could have been prevented, he stated that he should have performed an aborted landing after the first bounce. Examination of the airplane revealed structural damage to the engine firewall, engine mount, and the rudder. The student pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical problems with the airplane before the accident.
Factual narrative
The student pilot stated he returned from a solo cross country flight and entered the traffic pattern for landing. During touchdown, the airplane's nose pitched up and the pilot subsequently pulled back on the flight controls. The airplane became airborne, then settled and bounced a second time on the runway. After a third, and more pronounced bounce, the nose gear collapsed, and the airplane slid to a stop toward the left side of the runway. When the pilot was asked how the accident could have been prevented, he stated he should have performed an aborted landing after the first bounce. Examination of the airplane revealed structural damage to the engine firewall, engine mount, and the rudder. The student pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical problems with the airplane before the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8909W
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 (235)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-10477
- Airframe hours
- 3,243
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- David W. Dye
- Registered owner
- Echols Mill Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 15, 2009 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- MLJ · Milledgeville, GA
- Destination
- 27A · Elberton, GA
- Airport
- 27A · Elbert County Airport, runway 10, 4,000 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 23, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 23 total · 16 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- AND, 24 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 21, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.6 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.