- Date
- December 3, 2009, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Nogales, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2085TPiper PA-28R-200
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 23, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20091203053909A
- Case key
- 75181
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's improper landing flare and the flight instructor's inadequate remedial action.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The flight instructor said that he was giving an end-of-course stage check to the private licensed student, who was taking a commercial pilot course. The instructor said that the flight was normal and upon returning to the airport he requested to see a short-field landing. They landed in a nose-high attitude and there was "only a slight bump” when the aircraft’s main wheels touched down. Two more landings were performed by the student, which completed the stage check. Four hours later the flight instructor took the same student out for another lesson. The airplane had not been flown during this 4-hour period. During the airplane’s preflight examination, he found a large crack in the left wing's surface immediately above the landing gear attachment point. The flight instructor stated that the student did not make any hard landings during the first flight of the day. The student stated that she did not remember anything unusual about the flight.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor said he was giving an end of course stage check to the private licensed student, who was taking a commercial pilot course. He said the flight was normal and upon returning to the airport, he requested to see a short field landing. The landing was in a nose high attitude and there was "only a slight bump” when the aircraft’s main wheels touched down. Two more landings were performed by the student, which completed the stage check. Four hours later the flight instructor took the same student out for another lesson. The airplane had not been flown during this 4-hour period. During the airplane’s preflight examination, he found a large crack in the left wing's surface immediately above the landing gear attachment point. The flight instructor stated that the student did not make any hard landings during the first flight of the day. The student stated that she did not remember anything unusual about the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2085T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7135029
- Airframe hours
- 5,003
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360 SER, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Tiffin Aviation Service
- Registered owner
- Charles E Perry
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 16, 2009
- Departed
- OLS · Nogales, AZ
- Destination
- OLS · Nogales, AZ
- Airport
- OLS · Nogales International, runway 21, 7,199 × 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
- 30
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 28, 2009
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 470 in this make and model · 1,950 as pilot in command · 203 in the last 90 days · 49 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 18
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 10, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 229 total · 38 in this make and model · 128 as pilot in command · 97 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- OLS
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 8, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 970 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.