- Date
- May 6, 2014, 14:25 local (23:25 UTC)
- Place
- Ho'olehua, HI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4338VPiper PA28 - 181
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Case key
- 89176
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 pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 2
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 pilot reported that he performed a go-around on the first landing attempt. On the second landing attempt the airplane ballooned during the flare and subsequently impacted the runway with the propeller and the nose landing gear; the nose gear collapsed and separated from the airplane. A postaccident damage assessment revealed that the airplane's engine mount had sustained substantial damage as a result of the hard landing. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he performed a go-around on the first landing attempt. On the second landing attempt the airplane ballooned during the flare and subsequently impacted the runway with the propeller and the nose landing gear; the nose gear collapsed and separated from the airplane. A postaccident damage assessment revealed that the airplane's engine mount had sustained substantial damage as a result of the hard landing. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4338V
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 - 181 (181)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8490052
- Airframe hours
- 16,139
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Washin Air Inc.
- Registered owner
- Washin Air Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 10, 2014
- Departed
- HNY · Lanai City, HI
- Destination
- HNL · Honolulu, HI
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- HMK · Molokai, runway 6, 4,494 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 66 total · 66 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 5, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 586 KB in all.