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DEN91LA021

1990-11-25 · ERIE, Colorado, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 48V

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER FLARE BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN A HARD LANDING. A REALTED FACTOR WAS: LOW LIGHT CONDITION AT DUSK.

Factual narrative

THE PRIVATE PILOT WAS FLYING TWO PASSENGERS ON A ROUND TRIP CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, HE HAD THE BRAKES REPAIRED AT EL PASO, TEXAS, AND WAS DISTRACTED BY WORRY OVER THE BRAKES ABILITY TO STOP ON THE DOWN HILL RUNWAY. HE REPORTED THAT HE MADE A NORMAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 27, AND FLARED HIGH BECAUSE OF THE DARKNESS, RESULTING IN A HARD LANDING. THE PLANE BOUNCED BACK INTO THE AIR, THE PILOT ADDED POWER AND MADE A GO-AROUND. HE SAID THE ENGINE VIBRATED BADLY, AND HE ASSUMED THE PROPELLER STRUCK THE RUNWAY, EITHER DURING THE HARD LANDING OR AS HE ADDED POWER. ON THE SECOND APPROACH, AT TOUCHDOWN, THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED, THE PLANE DEPARTED THE RUNWAY, SHEARED THE MAIN GEAR AND CAME TO REST NOSE DOWN. THE RIGHT WING WAS BENT BACK, BOTH WING SPARS, THE FUSELAGE AND TAIL SECTION WERE DAMAGED. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE MAIN LANDING GEAR LEGS WERE OVER STRESSED AND THE LOWER FUSELAGE WAS CRUSHED INWARD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN91LA021.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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