- Date
- October 26, 2018, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N15888Piper PA28
- Defining event
- Landing: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 5, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20181026020869A
- Case key
- 98570
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 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
The student pilot reported that, during a solo cross-country flight, while landing with a crosswind, the airplane bounced and landed hard. He added that the propeller struck the ground, the airplane "tilted” left, and the left wing then struck the ground. The airplane came to rest in the grass off the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airport’s automated weather observation system reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 240° at 8 knots. The airplane landed on runway 27R, which resulted in a 4-knot crosswind.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that, during a solo cross-country flight, while landing with a crosswind, the airplane bounced, and landed hard. During the hard landing, the propeller struck the ground, the airplane "tilted left, and the left wing struck the ground. The airplane came to rest in the grass off the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The automated weather observation system at the airport reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 240° at 8 knots. The airplane landed on runway 27R.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N15888
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 (140)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7325189
- Built
- 1972
- Airframe hours
- 6,025.2
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E3D, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 3, 2018
- Departed
- OBE · Okeechobee, FL
- Destination
- TMB · Miami, FL
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- TMB · Miami Executive, runway 27R, 5,003 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- None
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
- 29
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 115.6 total · 114.4 in this make and model · 8 as pilot in command · 9.1 in the last 90 days · 7.5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KTMB
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 28, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 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.