- Date
- March 31, 2023, 16:49 local (20:49 UTC)
- Place
- Leesburg, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N306ERDiamond Aircraft Ind DA 42 NG
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230331005089A
- Case key
- 106995
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 flight instructor’s delayed remedial action, 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
While on approach for a short field landing, the flight instructor reported that the pilot undergoing instruction added power to arrest an excessive rate of descent at his instruction but removed it when the flight descended below 100 ft. The airplane began to descend rapidly and during the flare touched down first on the nose landing gear. The flight instructor took control of the airplane and added power to abort the landing, but he reported the nose dropped and the airplane began to, “…porpoise down the runway while the stall warning was sounding.” He attempted to keep the nose level but the airplane bounced about 5 or 6 times before coming to rest at the edge of the runway near the midpoint. The pilot reported that the approach was, “…a bit steep and fast due to gusty conditions.” He also reported the canopy became unlatched during the porpoising, and he held it down to prevent getting hit by debris kicked up by the propeller. A review of pictures of the airplane revealed it came to rest with the right main landing gear partially collapsed. The top center portion of the fuselage was substantially damaged during the accident. The pilots reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N306ER
- Reported as
- Diamond Aircraft Ind DA 42 NG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 42.N206
- Built
- 2016
- Airframe hours
- 3,880
- Engines
- Austro E4C, 168 horsepower, reciprocatingAustro E4C, 168 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc
- Registered owner
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 8, 2023 · 80 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- LEE · Leesburg International Airport, runway 13, 6,300 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Data recorder, Electronic multifunction display
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 8, 2021
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,322 total · 273 in this make and model · 1,218 as pilot in command · 278 in the last 90 days · 82 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 19, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 240 total · 14 in this make and model · 106 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- KLEE
- METAR
- KLEE 312053Z 15010KT 10SM CLR 29/14 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP214 T02890144 56022
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 27, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 13.3 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.