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LAX89LA301

1989-09-04 · TORRANCE, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport TOA

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE STUDENT PILOT'S IMPROPER FLARE AND IMPROPER RECOVERY FROM A BOUNCED LANDING, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT PORPOISE. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE LACK OF TRAINING IN RECOVERY FROM BOUNCED LANDINGS FROM HER INSTRUCTOR PILOT (CFI).

Factual narrative

THE STUDENT PLT ENCOUNTERED A PITCH OSCILLATION ON HER 2ND SOLO LANDING THAT RESULTED IN A COLLAPSED NOSE GEAR & OTHER DAMAGE TO THE ACFT. SHE RPRTD THAT THE ACFT BOUNCED HARD & SHE ELECTED TO LOWER THE NOSE & REFLARE THE PLANE INSTEAD OF MAKING A GO-AROUND. A SERIES OF HARD LANDINGS FOLLOWED UNTIL THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. THE STUDENT STATED THAT SHE HAD NOT BEEN TRAINED IN BOUNCED LANDING RECOVERY TECHNIQUES, BUT THAT SHE HAD BEEN TOLD BY HER INSTRUCTOR TO LOWER THE NOSE & REFLARE THE AIRPLANE IN THE EVENT SHE HAD FLARED TOO HIGH DURING A LANDING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA301.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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