Here is a YouTube video from 2009 that I came across today: [click here]

There is a camera mounted in the cockpit that is forward looking and captures the landing. It’s hard to conclude exactly what all the causes of the accident were from the video but it does give a very good view of the accident.

In the video, the student (who uploaded this video), believes that the aircraft stalled before impacting the runway the first time. Based on the airspeed indicator, the behaviour of the aircraft before hitting the runway and bounce afterwards, it seems pretty clear that the aircraft didn’t stall. The airspeed right before the aircraft pitched down, a split second before impact, appeared to be about 53mph and the stall speed (based on the airspeed indicator and flaps up) appears to be 49mph. Pictures after the accident show that the flaps were retracted, and being up would give the highest stall speed. Also, the aircraft was below gross weight and the CG was aft of the forward limit, both factors contributing to a slower stall speed than 49mph. There was no buffet or sudden drop of the nose; the nose appeared to smoothly drop slightly before impact. The aircraft appeared to be able to “fly” after the bounce, something that wouldn’t happen if the airplane was actually stalled.

The only information I have about this accident is what is included in the video. Based on the video and my experience, this is how I think it happened. As the aircraft was brought into the flare it would be slowing down continuously until touchdown, hence, requiring the pilot to pull back further and further on the stick to compensate for the loss of speed. It seems like the pilot initially flared and pulled back a little more to keep the aircraft level, but after a short time, he released the back pressure and the nose dropped, hitting the runway for the first time. I’ve seen this happen a number of times where the student releases back pressure typically because they’re anxious to get the aircraft onto the runway, they’re not focusing on the flare or they’re focusing at a point which is not giving satisfactory peripheral information on their descent. I always tell my students to never lower the nose after you’ve started the flare. There are cases where lowering the nose would be the correct thing to do but it’s a rare situation and it’s usually when you’ve gotten the nose too high that full power wouldn’t be able to prevent a stall; I would say it’s inexcusable to get into that situation. When the initial impact happens it’s somewhat startling to the pilot and the force of impact will actually move the stick forward because of the momentum of the elevator, which wants to continue downwards after the aircraft hits the ground. That will happen with any hard landing and is sometimes not recognized by the pilot. The pilot in this case stated in the video that he “didn’t remember a thing” regarding what he did with the stick after impacting the first time. He most likely didn’t move the stick forward consciously, but it was moved forward because of the momentum of the elevator. After hitting the first time the aircraft bounced, but since the stick had been pushed forward, the aircraft was “flown” back onto the runway a split second later. If the elevator hadn’t moved down after the first impact and the pilot held the attitude constant after, it’s likely the aircraft would have touched down on the mains after the bounce even if no power was used to cushion the landing.

The main cause of the accident was when the pilot released the back pressure prior to the initial impact. At that point he had gone lax on the stick and, since he was lax on the stick, the elevator easily moved down after the first impact, causing the second impact to be quite nose down and a very short time afterwards.

A few recommendations:

Don’t rush getting the airplane on the ground. If you do bounce, “freeze” the attitude by doing whatever you have to with the yoke/stick, and from there you can either re-flare or add power to control the touchdown. If you have to add power you should typically do it either at the top of the bounce or as you’re coming down, depending on the conditions. If you add it as you’re rising after the bounce, you’ll likely extend your bounce higher. Your eyes should begin transitioning from your aiming point to at least 1000′ down the runway as you start your flare or just before. When you’re looking down at ~1000′, your eyes shouldn’t be focused at that point. If you’re focused on some point down there, your brain won’t be picking up information effectively from your peripheral vision. You should be looking but not focusing, concentrate on your peripheral. You should be getting peripheral information from the area below the point you’re “looking” at and above the nose of the aircraft, and to the left and right of that area. Keep holding back pressure on the yoke/stick after touchdown and release it slowly so that the nose wheel touches the ground gently. Make sure you’re touching down at the proper speed, ideally just above the stall in most cases. If you’re too fast you’ll have a higher chance of landing on the nose wheel first.

Landing is probably one of the most complicated exercises you’ll do in your training and it’s really important that you have a good “feel” for the aircraft while at low speed and to be proficient at landing before your instructor lets you solo. Don’t be upset if you’re struggling with landing the airplane. A lot of the time I find students will have a marked improvement after doing some “armchair flying”. That’s when you sit in a chair in a quiet room with your eyes closed and you go over everything that you did in that landing or circuit or airwork exercise, etc. Review exactly what your instructor told you about the exercise and review your ground notes on the exercise. I promise you that if you put in the time, “armchair flying” after every lesson, you will see results.

Fly safe!