- Date
- June 30, 2000, 09:50 local (14:50 UTC)
- Place
- Montgomery, AL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9713TPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 19, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000630004759A
- Case key
- 49572
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 failure to maintain aircraft control upon encountering variable winds during the landing flare/touchdown and his failure to recover from the resulting bounced landing which resulted in substantial damage to the aircraft.
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 student pilot stated that it was his first supervised solo flight, and during his second touch and go landing, as he flared, a gust caught the airplane, and it porpoised, bouncing three times. During the third bounce, the aircraft struck the ground in a nose-down attitude and incurred structural damage.
Factual narrative
On June 30, 2000, about 0950 central daylight time, a Piper PA-38, N9713T, registered to and operated by Montgomery Aviation Corporation, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, experienced a hard landing at Montgomery Regional Airport, Montgomery, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The student pilot, the sole occupant of the airplane, received minor injuries, and the aircraft incurred substantial damage. The flight originated the same day, about 0910.
The student pilot stated that it was his first supervised solo flight, and during his second touch-and-go landing, as he flared, a gust caught the airplane, and it porpoised, bouncing three times. The student further stated that during the third bounce the propeller struck the ground, and he knew there was no possibility of a go around. The student said he then tried to stabilize the aircraft, but was unable to do so, and the aircraft struck the ground in a nose-down attitude, incurring structural damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9713T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0165
- Airframe hours
- 3,219
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Montgomery Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 22, 2000 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- MGM
- Airport
- MGM · Montgomery Regional, runway 10, 9,000 × 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
- 31
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12 total · 12 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MGM
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.