- Date
- January 22, 2006, 12:47 local (17:47 UTC)
- Place
- New Haven, CT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9284APiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 30, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060122000849A
- Case key
- 63139
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 flare and inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a loss of aircraft control during landing and subsequent impact with a ditch.
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 he was conducting his second solo instructional flight, and was attempting to land the airplane on a 5,600-foot-long, 150-foot-wide, asphalt runway. He added that he did not properly flare the airplane, and that it touched down and bounced back into the air. He then added power to cushion the landing, the airplane touched down once more, and then veered left off the runway coming to rest upright in a ditch. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane, and a postaccident examination revealed the right wing had sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
The student pilot stated that he was conducting his second solo instructional flight, and was attempting to land the airplane on a 5,600-foot-long, 150-foot-wide, asphalt runway. He added that he did not properly flare the airplane, and that it touched down and bounced back into the air. He then added power to cushion the landing, the airplane touch down once more, and then veered left off the runway coming to rest upright in a ditch. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane, and a postaccident examination revealed the right wing had sustained substantial damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9284A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8616041
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Robinson Aviation
- Registered owner
- Michael L Romei
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- HVN · New Haven, CT
- Destination
- HVN · New Haven, CT
- Airport
- HVN · Tweed-New Haven Airport, runway 02, 5,600 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 29 total · 29 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 12 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.63 inHg
- Observed at
- HVN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.