Event SEA00LA006

Factual narrative

On October 20, 1999, approximately 1000 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-24-250, N8078P, experienced a hard landing during a simulated engine-out approach at Gallatin Field, Bozeman, Montana. The flight instructor and the private pilot received minor injuries, and the aircraft, which was owned and operated by the private pilot, sustained substantial damage. The local 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, which began about 60 minutes prior to the accident, was being conducted in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation. According to an FAA Inspector from the Helena FSDO, the private pilot's flight review was not current, and this was an instructional flight which he hoped would be the basis for renewing his review. The inspector said that during the review, the flight instructor reduced the engine power in order to simulate an engine failure, and then instructed the private pilot to land the aircraft. According to the private pilot, he tried to "stretch" the glide in order to reach the end of the runway, but the airspeed began to slow, and the aircraft dropped in hard just after crossing the runway threshold. Although the airspeed had slowed below normal approach speed as the aircraft neared the approach end of the runway, the instructor pilot did not attempt to add power, nor did she call for termination of the simulated forced landing exercise. The private pilot, whose flight review had expired, was in the process of completing a flight review recurrency flight, when the instructor reduced the power and asked him to execute a simulated forced landing. As he stretched the glide in an attempt to make it to the approach end of the runway, the airspeed became lower than normal approach speed. Although the aircraft was able to reach the end of the runway, just after it crossed the threshold, it dropped onto the runway with sufficient force to cause substantial damage. Although the airspeed had slowed below normal approach speed as the aircraft neared the approach end of the runway, the instructor pilot did not add power, nor did she call for termination of the simulated forced landing exercise. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12