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MIA00LA194

2000-06-30 · MONTGOMERY, Alabama, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MGM

N9713T has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SPROUL KEITH A SPROUL 46K-TET), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the student pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control upon encountering variable winds during the landing flare/touchdown and his failure to recover from the resulting bounced landing which resulted in substantial damage to the aircraft.

Factual narrative

On June 30, 2000, about 0950 central daylight time, a Piper PA-38, N9713T, registered to and operated by Montgomery Aviation Corporation, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, experienced a hard landing at Montgomery Regional Airport, Montgomery, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The student pilot, the sole occupant of the airplane, received minor injuries, and the aircraft incurred substantial damage. The flight originated the same day, about 0910. The student pilot stated that it was his first supervised solo flight, and during his second touch-and-go landing, as he flared, a gust caught the airplane, and it porpoised, bouncing three times. The student further stated that during the third bounce the propeller struck the ground, and he knew there was no possibility of a go around. The student said he then tried to stabilize the aircraft, but was unable to do so, and the aircraft struck the ground in a nose-down attitude, incurring structural damage. The student pilot stated that it was his first supervised solo flight, and during his second touch and go landing, as he flared, a gust caught the airplane, and it porpoised, bouncing three times. During the third bounce, the aircraft struck the ground in a nose-down attitude and incurred structural damage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2000_MIA00LA194.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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