NTSB ERA23LA029 — 2022-10-14 · Montgomery, Alabama, United States

Current FAA registration · N11NT

Make / Model: PIPER PA-28-180
Year of manufacture: 1972 · 50 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19720227
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A02B18

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N11NT Piper PA-28 None

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

According to the student pilot, the airplane “slightly ballooned up” during the landing flare. This resulted in the nose landing gear impacting the ground “harder than normal.” The impact with the ground resulted in substantial damage to the engine mounts. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures 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.

— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2022_ERA23LA029.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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