- Date
- December 11, 2012, 13:18 local (18:18 UTC)
- Place
- Lynchburg, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N208AULiberty Aerospace XL-2
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 10, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20121211026699A
- Case key
- 85834
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 flare, which resulted in a hard 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 returning from a solo cross-country flight, and, just before touchdown, she flared the airplane too high above the runway, and the airplane touched down hard. The student pilot applied full power to attempt a go-around; however, the airplane bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane skidded down the runway eventually coming to rest. Postaccident examination revealed a large hole in the cockpit floor, located just aft of the left seat rudder pedals. The student pilot reported no preexisting mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operations.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot, she was returning from a solo cross-country flight. Just prior to touchdown, she flared the airplane too high above the runway and the airplane touched down hard. The student pilot applied full power to attempt a go around; however, the airplane bounced, the nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane skidded down the runway eventually coming to rest. The student pilot reported no preexisting mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operations. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed the aircraft was substantially damaged with a large hole in the cockpit floor, located just aft of the left seat rudder pedals.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N208AU
- Reported as
- Liberty Aerospace XL-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0114
- Airframe hours
- 1,417
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-240-B, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Averett University Of Danville Va
- Registered owner
- Averett University Of Danville Va
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 14, 2012 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- DAN · Danville, VA
- Destination
- LYH · Lynchburg, VA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- LYH · Lynchburg Regional Airport, runway 04, 7,100 × 150 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
- 19
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 83 total · 83 in this make and model · 5 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LYH
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 1, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.3 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.