Event CEN25LA136

Factual narrative

The pilot intended to land at an unfamiliar airport, which featured a grass landing surface and rising terrain that led to the approach end of the runway. While on approach, he was unable to differentiate where the grass approach area ended and the runway began. He landed short of the runway into the rising terrain, which resulted in a nose landing gear collapse and propeller strike. During the accident sequence the airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount, firewall, and right wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Pilot
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-(general)-Awareness of condition