Event FTW94LA045

Factual narrative

On December 5, 1993, at 1015 central standard time, a Piper PA-38-112, N2360A, was substantially damaged while landing at the Denton Municipal Airport, near Denton, Texas. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the solo instructional flight. According to the operator, the student pilot had been cleared to conduct a cross country flight from Addison, Texas, to Durant, Oklahoma. The student pilot stated that after becoming airborne, he contacted the flight service station to open his visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan. At that point the pilot was informed that moderate turbulence had been reported for his route of flight ahead of his present position. The student pilot aborted his cross country flight and elected to land at the Denton Municipal Airport. He further reported that while en route to the intended airport the turbulence increased and he had difficulty controlling the airplane. An inspection of the accident site by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airplane impacted the ground 7 feet short of the runway. Damage to the airplane consisted of structural damage to the right wing, as well as the collapsing of the nose and right main landing gear. The structural support for the right landing gear attaching point was fractured. THE STUDENT PILOT WAS CLEARED FOR A SUPERVISED CROSS COUNTRY SOLO FLIGHT. THE PILOT ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE AND HE ABORTED THE CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT AND ELECTED TO LAND AT ANOTHER AIRPORT; DURING APPOACH TO THE INTENDED LANDING POINT, HE ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE THAT MADE AIRCRAFT CONTROL DIFFICULT. JUST PRIOR TO CROSSING THE RUNWAY THRESHOLD, THE PILOT LOST CONTROL AND IMPACTED THE GROUND 7 FEET SHORT OF THE RUNWAY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12