Event GAA18CA428

Factual narrative

According to the pilot he had sought instruction from a flight instructor to complete his airplane single engine land, commercial certificate. He completed his airplane multi-engine land, commercial certificate two years prior, and his airplane single-engine land, private certificate three years prior. He reported that during his solo flight, he made an approach, but the airplane's airspeed was fast. He recalled that his intent was to float along the 8,000ft runway, extending the distance to touchdown because he wanted to exit at the taxiway near the end of the runway. He reported that during the flare, he misperceived the airplane's height above the runway, because the runway was 50ft wider than his departure airport's runway. The airplane "sunk", touched down on the main landing gear, and bounced. The pilot reported that he panicked and applied back pressure to the yoke, "thinking that it would slow me down." The airplane bounced several times and he applied forward pressure to the yoke, "to get some forward momentum to flare again." The airplane settled on the runway. During taxi the pilot felt something was wrong with the nose wheel but continued to taxi to the hangar. The airplane sustained substantial damage the lower engine mounts. 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 his solo flight, he made an approach, but the airplane's airspeed was fast. He intended to float along the 8,000-ft-long runway, extending the distance to touchdown, because he wanted to exit at the taxiway near the end of the runway. During the landing flare, he misperceived the airplane's height above the runway because the runway was 50 ft wider than his departure airport's runway. He added that the airplane sank, touched down on the main landing gear, and then bounced. The pilot reported that he panicked and applied back pressure to the yoke, "thinking that it would slow...[the airplane] down." The airplane bounced several times, and he applied forward pressure to the yoke "to get some forward momentum to flare again," but the airplane settled on the runway. During taxi, the pilot felt something was wrong with the nosewheel but continued to taxi to the hangar. The airplane sustained substantial damage the lower engine mounts. 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