The pilot reported, “upon touchdown, the Kodiak 100 jumped back up as I reduced power all the way back.”
He said that the airplane bounced twice on the grass runway in Lakeport, Florida, resulting in the nosewheel separating from the airplane. Subsequently, the nose landing gear strut dug into the ground, and the airplane nosed over.
The airplane’s fuselage, wings, and empennage were substantially damaged. The pilot was seriously injured in the crash, but the four passengers escaped without injuries.
The pilot reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent noseover.
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This January 2024 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.
This very low time VFR pilot did a BFR in a 2 place light sport.
Maybe this company ceo should hire a capable pilot.
It would be interesting to know if he had any transition training in this $2+ million aircraft.?
More excuses. Who ever signed out this indivdual for his licence should have their privileges revoked. This pilot needs to go and get proper basic training. Having $$$$$ doesn’t equate to ability / competence.
Note that the Dept. of Transportation issues a pilot certificate, not a license ..
It does not expire, so a pilot is a plot for life.
This pilot certainly needs a lot more instructional time in such a high performance aircraft, vs his BFR in a 2 place light sport aircraft.!
JS says it perfectly. More money than since! Always drives me crazy because I can’t afford one of these planes and to watch stupid crash them do to lack of skill and understanding.
JS has it nailed, which is why when I was learning landing and made the 100-hour mistake, he changed the procedure to come in a little hotter. No more full stall landings. It isn’t necessary most of the time, and short field/soft field landing should still be practiced despite the fact that most pilots don’t spend a lot of time in grass, but they might land at a field that has a short runway.
Classic PIO and tried to save the landing while saving face with the passengers, but he lost on both counts. Why not go around? Who doesn’t want to fly a little longer, as long as the fuel is sufficient (which it better be) and the pilot isn’t fatigued (which he shouldn’t be, not enough to force a landing anyway).
I am asking as a non pilot. In a situation where you have a hard landing and a large bounce, would it be time to consider a go round and apply power if conditions permit?
Pilot with 185 hours total time in a turbine powered Kodiak? What could possibly go wrong? The plane just “jumped” back into the air… twice. Come on. Just fess up. Low time pilot chasing a bounced landing tries to force the plane onto the ground due to the grass strip likely being a bit short and the pilot wants to get the plane on the ground and stopped. He chases the landing causing pilot induced oscillation and wheelbarrows it on the nose, in this case tearing off the nose gear on the softer turf. There are a lot of Cessnas out there with wrinkled firewalls from doing the same. Just fess up that you screwed up the landing and tried to chase it rather than going around, then learn from your mistake. I don’t suppose anyone ever told him this is too much plane for a new pilot as his learning curve was going to get really expensive?
Time to rename General Aviation to Destruction Derby. Furthermore, time to design landing gear strong enough to take hard landings and a bounce. But don’t hold your breath.
/J
wow, a private pilot with 80 hrs flying a $1M+ aircraft, assuming he was insured and legit I can’t imagine what the insurance co was thinking but I can guarantee you we all know what they’re thinking now, but thankful all survived
From what I’ve read about this aircraft, a bit of power is needed in the flare, or it will ‘drop like a rock’.!! . and hence a bounce.
So, poor piloting.!! and another wrecked aircraft,
Agree – some higher performance aircraft with higher wing loading run out of airspeed quickly and require the use of power in the flare similar to when making a soft-field landing.