- Date
- May 4, 2007, 12:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Leesburg, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N809MSPiper PA28R-201
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20070504016449A
- Case key
- 65705
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 flight instructor's failure to take remedial action, and the private pilot's failure to maintain proper airspeed, which resulted in a hard landing.
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 certified flight instructor (CFI) was providing flight instruction to the private pilot, who was training for a commercial pilot certificate. The airplane was in the traffic pattern, abeam the runway, when the flight instructor reduced the engine power, and asked the private pilot to demonstrate a power off, 180-degree accuracy landing. The CFI verbally coached the private pilot throughout the approach, and reminded him to watch the airspeed, which was 3 knots slow. The CFI reported that when the airplane was about 100 feet above the ground, the private pilot increased the flaps from 10 to 25 degrees, and pitched the nose up. The airspeed degraded, and the airplane subsequently landed hard, and sustained wing spar damage. The flight instructor had accumulated about 800 hours of total flight experience. The private pilot had accumulated about 190 hours of total flight experience.
Factual narrative
The certified flight instructor (CFI) was providing flight instruction to the private pilot, who was training for a commercial pilot certificate. The airplane was in the traffic pattern, abeam the runway, when the flight instructor reduced the engine power, and asked the private pilot to demonstrate a power off, 180-degree accuracy landing. The CFI verbally coached the private pilot throughout the approach, and reminded him to watch the airspeed, which was 3 knots slow. The CFI reported that when the airplane was about 100 feet above the ground, the private pilot increased the flaps from 10 to 25 degrees, and pitched the nose up. The airspeed degraded, and the airplane subsequently landed hard, and sustained wing spar damage. The flight instructor had accumulated about 800 hours of total flight experience. The private pilot had accumulated about 190 hours of total flight experience.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N809MS
- Reported as
- Piper PA28R-201
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2837018
- Airframe hours
- 11,565
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Delta Connection Academy
- Registered owner
- VMC Aircraft Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 1, 2007 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- SFB · Sanford, FL
- Destination
- LEE
- Airport
- LEE · Leesburg, runway 13, 5,000 × 100 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 1, 2007
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 80 in this make and model · 650 as pilot in command · 80 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 1, 2007
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 190 total · 8 in this make and model · 130 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- LEE
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.