The pilot reported that, during his approach to landing at the airport in Upper Lake, California, he applied full flaps, but “unfortunately, (he) added power too late and too slowly.”
Subsequently, “the bottom fell out,” and the Eurofox aerodynamically stalled.
The airplane landed hard, the left and right wings hit the ground, and the airplane skidded to a stop.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and right wing.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during the approach to land, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA096
This December 2017 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Learn to fly your airplane by the “seat of your pants” (vision, feel, etc.). When you are slowing down to land, you can see the airplane gliding horizontal which indicates it is flying. Watch for the airplane make a slight dip downward. This is initial stall. Add a burst of power by use of the throttle and the airplane will begin flying again. Every time you see a dip in the airplane, give it another burst of power. With intermittent use of the throttle, you can fly your airplane right at stall speed on the approach to landing. You will also be landing at stall speed with zero additional airspeed or kinetic energy in the airplane. This is by far the safest way to land an airplane. This is old fashion technique but it works very well. All variables are included when the airplane dips. This is real simple- watch your airplane, it tells you everything you need to know!
What does it mean when the “bottom fell out”, please explain that in terms of aerodynamics… using the laws of physics………. there is no bottom anything……… poor, poor, poor choice of words…….. how does that phrase help anyone understand what actually happened? There is tremendous ignorance in the world of GA pilots……… you are just adding to it.