Event ERA10CA191

Factual narrative

The pilot stated he was conducting an instrument flight rules flight from Melbourne, Florida to Naples, Florida. Upon arrival at Naples, the pilot was cleared for a very-high frequency omnidirectional radio range approach to runway 5. The pilot encountered visual conditions at 400 feet. He flared the airplane high and fast and the airplane touched down hard on the runway and bounced. The airplane touched backed down on the runway and began to porpoise. The nose wheel sheared off and the airplane continued down the runway and came to a complete stop. Both wings were wrinkled to their wing root and the cabin area was buckled. The pilot stated there was nothing mechanically wrong with the airplane. He simply rounded out too high, and made a hard landing, resulting in the nose landing gear shearing off the airplane. Upon arrival at his destination after an instrument-flight-rules flight, the pilot was cleared for a very-high frequency omnidirectional radio range approach to runway 5. The pilot encountered visual conditions at 400 feet. He flared the airplane high and fast and the airplane touched down hard on the runway and bounced. The airplane touched back down on the runway and began to porpoise. The nosewheel then sheared off and the airplane continued down the runway until it came to a complete stop. Both wings were wrinkled to their wing root and the cabin area was buckled. The pilot stated that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the airplane and that he simply "rounded out" too high and made a hard landing, resulting in the nose landing gear shearing off the airplane. 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).

• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Incorrect use/operation - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C