Event GAA15CA301

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during the landing he approached "a little faster" than he would have liked. During the landing flare, he further reported that the airplane ballooned, bounced, and then began to porpoise down the runway, with the last bounce being "fairly hard." The pilot taxied off the runway without further incident. During the post-flight inspection, the pilot reported that "everything looked ok" with the airplane, but he did see fuel dripping from the underside of the fuselage. During a maintenance inspection one day after the accident, substantial damage to the firewall was identified. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that during the landing he approached "a little faster" than he would have liked. During the landing flare, he further reported that the airplane ballooned, bounced, and then began to porpoise down the runway, with the last bounce being "fairly hard." The pilot taxied off the runway without further incident. During the post-flight inspection, the pilot reported that "everything looked ok" with the airplane, but he did see fuel dripping from the underside of the fuselage. During a maintenance inspection one day after the accident, substantial damage to the firewall was identified. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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 Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained - C
• — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained