- Date
- January 16, 2014, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Milledgeville, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N353DCDiamond Aircraft Ind DA 20 C1
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 1, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20140116000429A
- Case key
- 88682
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 pilots inadequate landing 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
According to the student pilot, while flying the final leg of the traffic pattern, during his solo flight, he noticed that the airplane was "too high," and pulled the power to idle. Then he noted that the airplane was "too fast" and applied back pressure to the control yoke. The airplane then ballooned and subsequently the student pilot added power to go around; however, the airplane impacted the runway in a nose down attitude, became airborne, impacted the runway again, the nose gear assembly collapsed, and the airplane came to rest in the dirt on the left side of the runway. The accident sequence resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. There were no reported preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot, while flying the final leg of the traffic pattern, during his solo flight, he noticed that the airplane was "too high," and pulled the power to idle. Then he noted that the airplane was "too fast" and applied back pressure to the control yoke. The airplane then ballooned and subsequently the student pilot added power to go around; however, the airplane impacted the runway in a nose down attitude, became airborne, impacted the runway again, the nose gear assembly collapsed, and the airplane came to rest in the dirt on the left side of the runway. The accident sequence resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. There were no reported preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N353DC
- Reported as
- Diamond Aircraft Ind DA 20 C1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- C0353
- Built
- 2005
- Airframe hours
- 2,981
- Engine
- Continental Motors IO-240-B, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Falcon Aviation Academy
- Registered owner
- Scc Aviation Holdings LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 30, 2013
- Departed
- CCO · Newnan, GA
- Destination
- MLJ · Milledgeville, GA
- Airport
- MLJ · Baldwin County Airport, runway 28, 5,509 × 99 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 56 total · 56 in this make and model · 6 as pilot in command · 56 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point -11 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- MLJ
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 14, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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 N353DC · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.