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ERA20CA235

2020-07-01 · Chesapeake, Virginia, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CPK

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's improper landing flare and failure to recover from the ensuing bounced landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that he performed practice maneuvers over a field for about 20 minutes before returning to the airport to practice landings. After becoming established on final approach, the airplane touched down "on the numbers," then proceeded to bounce with ever increasing frequency and severity. The airplane departed the runway surface, the nosewheel landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot reported that he performed practice maneuvers over a field for about 20 minutes before returning to the airport to practice landings. After becoming established on final approach, the airplane touched down "on the numbers," then proceeded to bounce with ever increasing frequency and severity. The airplane departed the runway surface, the nosewheel landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with 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 Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA20CA235.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers