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ERA14CA286

2014-06-06 · Cross City, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CTY

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and the collapse of the nose landing gear.

Factual narrative

The student pilot was conducting a solo cross country flight. While landing at the destination airport, he allowed the nose landing gear to contact the runway first, which resulted in its subsequent collapse. Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall. The student pilot stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot was conducting a solo cross country flight. While landing at the destination airport, he allowed the nose landing gear to contact the runway first, which resulted in its subsequent collapse. Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall. The student pilot stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Student/instructed pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_ERA14CA286.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.