LAX04CA008

The airplane landed hard, bounced, and touched down again with the left main landing gear off the runway. On the second touchdown, the left main landing gear came into contact with soft sand. The airplane veered off of the runway. As the nose gear entered the sand, it collapsed and the airplane's nose skid in the sand. The pilot believed that the accident resulted from the airplane being lower than he perceived due to a 50-foot narrower runway than he was accustomed to, and his lack of practice performing crosswind landings. The reported winds were from 190 degrees at 12 knots; the pilot was landing runway 21.

On October 9, 2003, about 1650 mountain standard time, an experimental Velocity XL airplane, N658SE, made a hard landing and veered off of the runway at Phoenix Regional Airport (A39), Casa Grande, Arizona. The airplane was registered to and being operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight departed Cochise County Airport (P33), Willcox, Arizona, at 1456 for the personal cross-country flight.

The pilot reported in a written statement that he was attempting to land on runway 21 at Phoenix Regional Airport. When the airplane was on final approach, he determined that he was too high above the glide path and initiated a go-around. The go-around was uneventful.

After going around the pattern, he attempted a second landing. During touchdown, the airplane hit hard and bounced back into the air. Upon returning back down onto the runway, the left main landing gear impacted soft sand, which pulled the airplane to the left and off of the runway. As the nose landing gear made contact with the sand, the gear leg broke and the nose of the airplane slid in the sand until the airplane came to rest. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the nose gear, winglet, and rudder control surfaces. The pilot's recommendation to prevent future accidents was that he should have had more crosswind landing practice.

In a phone conversation the pilot added that the runway at Phoenix Regional was 50 feet wide, and he was accustomed to landing on runways over 100 feet wide. He believed that the accident resulted from the airplane being lower than he perceived, and his lack of practice performing crosswind landings.

A routine aviation weather report (METAR) was issued at 1655. It reported winds from 190 degrees at 12 knots.