- Date
- May 9, 1997, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Longmont, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N757DMAeromot AMT-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970509009989A
- Case key
- 20217
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 dual student pilot's improper landing flare and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While conducting instruction, the CFI was providing the student with the problem of conducting a forced landing on the runway following a simulated loss of engine power. During the landing sequence at about 3 to 5 feet above the ground, the student went forward on the controls and the aircraft landed hard. The main landing geared sheared off, as did the propeller, and the motor glider slid to a stop on the runway.
Factual narrative
On May 9, 1997, approximately 1100 mountain daylight time, an Aeromot AMT-200 powered glider, N757DM, sustained substantial damage during a simulated forced landing at Vance Brand Airport, Longmont, Colorado. The commercial pilot/flight instructor and his student were not injured. The flight was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
According to the flight instructor, the student was flying and they had departed runway 29 at Vance Brand and were on a departure crosswind when he pulled the engine to idle to simulate an engine failure. The student set up for a landing on runway 11 and at approximately 3 to 5 feet above the ground at 55 knots, the student, instead of flaring for landing, put the stick full forward. The motor glider impacted the runway and sheared off the main landing gear. The aircraft slid down the runway and came to a stop.
According to Thomas Brenza, of Enchantment Aero Services, who conducted repairs to the aircraft, the following repairs were accomplished:
1. Replace left and right main landing gear. 2. Replace left and right brake lines. 3. Repair propeller hub and replace propeller blades. 4. Repair finish crack in wing leading edge forward of the right main landing gear. 5. Repair puncture in right lower wing skin aft of landing gear and repair finish damage. 6. Repair finish cracks at inboard end of right aileron on lower left wing skin. 7. Repair delamination on right wing aft spar at root. 8. Inspect aileron hinge areas, both wings. 9. Inspect lift pins and spar pins, both wings. 10. Repair delamination and finish damage on lower left wing skin aft of main landing gear. 11. Repair finish cracks in left lower wing skin at inboard corner of aileron.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N757DM
- Reported as
- Aeromot AMT-200
- Category
- Unknown
- Serial number
- 200.047
- Airframe hours
- 518
- Engine
- Rotax 912 A2, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Denis Paul Michaud
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 12, 1996 · 90 hours before
- Departed
- 2V2
- Airport
- 2V2 · Vance Brand, runway 11, 5,000 × 75 ft, concrete
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
- 39
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 790 total · 410 in this make and model · 726 as pilot in command · 70 in the last 90 days · 31 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.