Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary ERA12CA407

Lake Wales, FL, USA

Aircraft #1

N373CA

PIPER PA-28-161

Analysis

According to the flight instructor, he was conducting a training flight on short-field landings with the student pilot. During the last short-field landing, as the airplane flew over the runway numbers, the student pilot reduced the engine power to idle, and the airplane dropped and landed hard. According to the student pilot, as the airplane began to descend, he attempted a go-around, but did not advance the throttle quickly enough, and the airplane landed hard on the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall was buckled. The flight instructor and student pilot did not report any malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Factual Information

According to the certified flight instructor (CFI), he was conducting a training flight with the student pilot on short field landings. During last short field landing, as the airplane flew over the runway numbers, the airplane dropped and landed hard. According to the student pilot, he recalled that the airplane was at 55 knots during short final. As the airplane began to descend, he attempted a go-around, but did not advance the throttle quickly enough and the airplane landed hard on the runway. During the examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, it was revealed that the firewall was buckled. The CFI and student pilot did not report any flight control malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable Cause and Findings

The flight instructor’s inadequate supervision of the student pilot’s power management, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's premature power reduction during the landing flare.

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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