- Date
- March 29, 1997, 12:58 local (20:58 UTC)
- Place
- Little River, CA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2128QPiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 14, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970329003949A
- Case key
- 29753
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 failure to properly judge the flare altitude.
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
The pilot stated that she flared 8 to 10 feet above the runway and stalled the airplane. The airplane pitched nose down and landed on the nose gear. The nose gear collapsed, damaging the fire wall.
Factual narrative
On March 29, 1997, at 1258 hours Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-28-161, N2128Q, collapsed the nose gear during a landing on runway 11 at the Little River, California, airport. The airplane was rented by the pilot from the West Valley Flying Club for a personal flight and was substantially damaged. The certificated private pilot and three passengers were not injured. The flight originated in Palo Alto, California, about 1125. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed.
The pilot said she flared 8 to 10 feet above the runway and stalled the airplane. The airplane pitched nose down and landed on the nose gear. The nose gear collapsed, damaging the fire wall.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2128Q
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7916281
- Airframe hours
- 3,494
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- West Valley Flying Club
- Registered owner
- Engineering Management Consult
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 26, 1997 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- PAO · Palo Alto, CA
- Destination
- O48
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- O48 · Little River, runway 11, 5,249 × 150 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
- 72
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 11 in this make and model · 65 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- UKI, 27 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.