- Date
- July 29, 1989, 12:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Liberty, MO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4278EPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890729025719A
- Case key
- 34840
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
Control interference by the dual student as the instructor tried to recover from the student's bounced landing, and failure to maintain proper runway alignment. Contributing factors were: improper flare by the student, the crosswind, the student's apprehension during the bounced landing, and the crop beside the runway.
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 & instructor (CFI) elected to visit an arpt with a narrow rwy where small acft were built & flown. The 1st apch was not to the cfi's satisfaction, so a go-around was made. The 2nd apch was good, but drg the lndg, the student 'froze' at the controls & the CFI was unable to release the student's grasp. Subsequently, the acft bounced, then it went into a bordering corn field & was damaged. The CFI said he repeatedly told the student to 'let go,' but the student continued to stay on the controls.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4278E
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0525
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Liberty Flight Center
- Registered owner
- Duckworth, Edward
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MO10 · Liberty, MO
- Destination
- 4MO4
- Airport
- 4MO4 · Liberty Landing, runway 22, 1,850 × 36 ft, grass/turf
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
- 30
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,836 total · 200 in this make and model · 1,807 as pilot in command · 344 in the last 90 days · 134 in the last 30 days · 11 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 30,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MCI, 20 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.