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CEN15CA373

2015-07-17 · Alexandria, Indiana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport I99

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain/attain adequate airspeed and attitude during landing that resulted in a hard landing. Contributing was the pilot's diverted attention to air traffic and the reduction of perceptible audio cues due to noise attenuating headsets.

Factual narrative

The non-instrument rated private pilot diverted to the alternate airport so as to avoid flight into instrument meteorological conditions along the intended route of flight path to a destination airport. While landing at the alternate airport, the airplane bounced and departed off the side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage that included the engine firewall and right wing. The pilot stated that he reduced engine power and airspeed so as to increase separation with a preceding aircraft that was also landing, which resulted in "too much" airspeed being reduced and the bounced landing. The pilot stated that he was using active noise reduction headsets for the first time, which "greatly" reduced engine noise and "muted" audio input so as to not receive the "normal" audio indications that his senses were accustomed to on prior flights. The accident was not reported by the pilot and was discovered by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector during routine surveillance at the airport. The non-instrument rated private pilot diverted to the alternate airport so as to avoid flight into instrument meteorological conditions along the intended route of flight path to a destination airport. While landing at the alternate airport, the airplane bounced and departed off the side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage that included the engine firewall and right wing. The pilot stated that he reduced engine power and airspeed so as to increase separation with a preceding aircraft that was also landing, which resulted in "too much" airspeed being reduced and the bounced landing. The pilot stated that he was using active noise reduction headsets for the first time, which "greatly" reduced engine noise and "muted" audio input so as to not receive the "normal" audio indications that his senses were accustomed to on prior flights. The accident was not reported by the pilot and was discovered by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector during routine surveillance at the airport. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • F Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring other aircraft-Pilot - F
  • F Personnel issues-Physical-Sensory ability/limitation-Hearing-Pilot - F

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_CEN15CA373.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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