- Date
- September 28, 2011, 15:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Gaitherburg, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N912BGCirrus Design SR20
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110928021339A
- Case key
- 81966
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 recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a loss of airplane control.
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 pilot stated that he had conducted five normal practice takeoffs and landings in the airport traffic pattern. During the landing flare for the sixth landing, he observed a flock of birds at the end of the runway and attempted to touch down and stop the airplane in a shorter-than-normal distance. The pilot stated that the airplane touched down hard and porpoised several times. On the final touchdown, the nose landing gear collapsed. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he had conducted five normal practice takeoffs and landings in the airport traffic pattern. During the landing flare for the sixth landing, he observed a flock of birds at the end of the runway and attempted to touch down and stop the airplane in a shorter than normal distance. The pilot stated that the airplane touched down hard and porpoised several times. On the final touchdown the nose gear collapsed. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector, who examined the airplane after the accident, observed substantial damage to the engine firewall. The pilot reported to the FAA that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N912BG
- Reported as
- Cirrus Design SR20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1220
- Airframe hours
- 1,147
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental IO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Inn Flying Club Inc
- Registered owner
- Inn Flying Club Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 16, 2011
- Departed
- GAI · Gaitherburg, MD
- Destination
- GAI · Gaitherburg, MD
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- GAI · Montgomery County Airpark, runway 14, 4,202 × 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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 22, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,252 total · 86 in this make and model · 1,167 as pilot in command · 61 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.80 inHg
- Observed at
- FDK, 18 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 31, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 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.