- Date
- April 21, 2015, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Campbellsville, KY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9523EBellanca 1730 - A
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 9, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150421005379A
- Case key
- 91105
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 improper 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
During the landing flare, the pilot reported that it "felt like the air was sucked out from under the plane". The airplane landed hard on the main landing gear, bounced and touched down again buckling the nose landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
During the landing flare, the pilot reported that it "felt like the air was sucked out from under the plane". The airplane landed hard on the main landing gear, bounced and touched down again buckling the nose landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9523E
- Reported as
- Bellanca 1730 - A (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 75-30785
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 2,811
- Engine
- Continental Motor IO 520 K1B, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 4, 2014 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- GLW · Glasgow, KY
- Destination
- GLW · Glasgow, KY
- Airport
- AAS · Taylor County, runway 23, 5,003 × 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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 400 total · 350 in this make and model · 350 as pilot in command · 9.5 in the last 90 days · 8.1 in the last 30 days · 0.8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- KDVK, 29 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 4, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.2 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.