Skip to content

CHI91DEM03

1991-02-11 · LANSING, Michigan, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LAN

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT (CFI) TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED ON FINAL APPROACH TO FLARE THE AIRCRAFT FOR LANDING. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE LANDING GEAR MALFUNCTION, AND THE CFI'S IMPROPERLY PLANNED APPROACH.

Factual narrative

THE OWNER/PLT & AN INSTRUCTOR (CFI) WERE ON A FLT TO CHECKOUT THE OWNER IN THE ACFT. WHILE CYCLING THE LANDING GEAR IN FLT, THEY WERE UNABLE TO GET A SAFE DOWN-&-LOCKED INDCN BY USING THE NORMAL SYS. A DOWN-&-LOCKED INDCN WAS OBTAINED BY USING THE MANUAL SYS. THE CFI RECOMMENDED THAT DRG AN APCH FOR LANDING, THE ENGINE BE SHUT DOWN TO MINIMIZE DAMAGE TO THE ENG, IN THE EVENT THAT THE LANDING GEAR SHOULD COLLAPSE. THE OWNER AGREED, BUT SUGGESTED THAT THE CFI MAKE THE LANDING. THE CFI TOOK CONTROL OF THE ACFT. HE RPRTD THAT HE SHUT DOWN THE ENG WHEN THE ACFT WAS ABOUT 500' AGL 'OVER THE NUMBERS.' AN EXCESSIVE SINK RATE DEVELOPED, AND THE CFI TRIED TO FLARE THE ACFT FOR LANDING, BUT IT TOUCHED DOWN HARD. THE RGT MAIN GEAR LEG WAS JAMMED INTO THE WING, WHICH PIERCED A FUEL CELL & CREATED A FUEL LEAK. THE FUEL IGNITED DRG THE LANDING SKID & THE ACFT'S RGT SIDE WAS EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED BY FIRE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_CHI91DEM03.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.