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Atlas / NTSB / LAX89LA266

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event LAX89LA266

1989-08-06 SANTA MONICA, California, United States Airport · SMO None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE STUDENT PILOT'S IMPROPER FLARE AND RECOVERY FROM A BOUNCED LANDING.

Factual narrative

ACCORDING TO THE STUDENT'S INSTRUCTOR PILOT (CFI), THE LESSON BEGAN AS A DUAL SESSION, THEN THE STUDENT TOOK OFF ON A SOLO FLIGHT TO MAKE THREE SUPERVISED SOLO LANDINGS. THE STUDENT'S SOLO TRAFFIC PATTERN WAS NORMAL THROUGH A SHORT FINAL APPROACH. THE CFI NOTED THAT THE AIRCRAFT WAS IN A 'FLAT ATTITUDE' AND WAS 'MAYBE SLIGHTLY SLOW' AS IT CROSSED OVER THE THRESHOLD. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT LANDED HARD ON ALL THREE LANDING GEAR AND BEGAN TO PORPOISE DOWN THE RUNWAY WITH EACH OSCILLATION GROWNING LARGER. ON THE FINAL OSCILLATION, THE AIRCRAFT TOUCHED DOWN HARD AND THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA266.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.