The pilot reported that, during approach to the airport in Elizabethtown, N.C., he noticed the Cessna 182 was high, so he reduced power and lowered the nose.
While correcting, he was talking to his passenger and became distracted.
He realized he was not in a good landing attitude, so he added power and pulled back on the yoke. The airplane landed hard, which collapsed the nose landing gear and ruptured the fuel system. The airplane veered left and exited the runway onto the adjacent grass.
The pilot and passengers were able to get out of the airplane, which was destroyed in a post-accident fire.
The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
The pilot added as a safety recommendation that maintaining a sterile cockpit must always be a priority during landing.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and postaccident fire. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s distraction during short final.
This September 2019 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.
INATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m no expert, but 43 years of flying, instructing and evaluation has taught me this:
Store it away in your memory bank, learn from it.
Criticize it publicly at your peril. Karma is a biotch.
C182’s are nose heavy and like the 206 will wheelbarrow upon landing. This pilot never learned how to make approaches and by guessing was about two miles behind the aircraft in his thinking. A bounce will usually cost a firewall, too. Cessna keeps many in stock.
Why would you want to publish the pilot’s ID and encourage a request to lift his license.
Serious as it is mistakes will be made including all of us. Haven’t me a perfect pilot, nor a perfect person in all of my, flying or otherwise in allof my 97 years.
SOUNDS like he got a big sink rate going, tried to save the landind vs go-around.
“While correcting, he was talking to his passenger and became distracted.”
Interesting discussion in the Narrative section of the accident report: Says he was talking about what/why he was doing-while he was doing it (as opposed to say, discussing a football game or where they were going to eat lunch). How do you get distracted from what you are doing, by talking about what you are doing, while you are doing it….?
Glad no one was hurt!
“While correcting, he was talking to his passenger and became distracted.”
Interesting discussion in the Narrative section of the accident report: Says he was talking about what/why he was doing-what he was doing (as opposed to say, discussing a football game or where they were going to eat lunch). How do you get distracted from what you are doing, by talking about what you are doing, while you are doing it….?
Glad no one was hurt!
Missing
Stabilized approach
Sterile cockpit
No perceived glide path
No go-around
Pilots must “see the invisible” glide path.
Noticed he was high so “reduced power and lowed the nose”. This guy is in serious need of some remedial training!
“If you want to go down, raise the nose. If you want to go down faster, raise it some more.”
Words of wisdom from a multi thousand hour flight instructor. The worst thing we do with a prospective pilot is to tell them that pulling back raises the nose and makes the airplane go up, pushing makes it go down. When we push the nose down the airplane instantly responds by trying to raise it back to the trimmed airspeed, pay attention to what the airplane is trying to tell you.
You’re assuming it was trimmed to an “appropriate” airspeed in the first place.
If it wasn’t trimmed “to an appropriate airspeed” see the recommendation for remedial training.
SOUNDS like he got a big sink rate going, tried to save the landing, vs go-around. I could be wrong. Pushing the nose over can definitely make the aircraft go down, vice-versa. Depends on your speed—if you’re going 400 knots in an F-16, or T-38, pull is up, but on final in Cessna 172, might stall by pulling. In a Lancair IV, guys kill themselves (sometimes) bygetting into a big sink rate on final, getting near the ground, seeing the “ground rush,” snatching the stick back, instant stall, huge wing drop. Oh, then crash, that happens right after the wing drop.
We’re talking about a landing here, right? Push the nose down at 400 knots in a trimmed condition the airplane, any airplane, will try to return to trimmed airspeed, right? What’s your point?
Dear FAA:
Please revoke the certificates held by this pilot today.
Zero talent for aviating.
Well put.
Across the board?….Every gear up, fuel exhaustion, VFR into IMC, runway incursion, ground loop?