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Atlas / NTSB / WPR23LA238

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR23LA238

2023-06-16 Mesa, Arizona, United States Airport · FFZ None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N28034

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-28-181

Year of manufacture

2020 · 3 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING IO-360-B4A (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20200617

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A2D0D9

Registrant of record

CAE AVIATION ACADEMY PHOENIX LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

The flight school reported that the student pilot was conducting his second solo flight. In the landing flare the student pilot floated and began porpoising; hitting the nose wheel several times and striking the prop on the runway. The nosewheel collapsed sustaining substantial damage to the engine mount. There were no preaccident 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).

  • Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
  • Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Total experience-Pilot
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_WPR23LA238.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.