Pilot Debrief

Piper PA34 near Mount Pleasant, TX — 2019-11-25

Final reportCEN20TA025
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Date
2019-11-25
Location
Mount Pleasant, TX, USA
Airport
OSA
Aircraft
Piper PA34
Registration
N15412
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The pilot's hard, bounced landing and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action, which resulted in a fracture of the nose landing gear mounting structure.

NTSB narrative

During the instructional cross-country flight, the pilot receiving instruction was in the left seat and manipulating the flight controls. During the landing attempt, the airplane bounced and became airborne again with a nose-high pitch attitude. The flight instructor took control of the airplane and continued the landing. Witnesses observed the airplane land hard, bounce, then the nose gear collapsed and punctured the fuselage and the windscreen. The airplane slid on the runway and came to rest upright. A postaccident examination revealed that the nose landing gear mounting structure was fractured at the lower truss. The mount was displaced upward and punctured the fuselage. The nose tire was partially deflated. The damage to the mounting structure was consistent with a hard landing on the nose landing gear.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted landing after initial bounce to prevent further damage.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • ADS-B / radar
  • Photos
  • 9 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents9

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