Piper PA-28-140 N32458

Summary

On 19 April 1999 at about 23:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N32458, operated by Split-S Aviation, was involved in an accident near Cleburne, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 April 1999 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Cleburne, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Cleburne Municipal (F18)

Coordinates

32.3493, -97.3308

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N32458

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Split-S Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Quinlan → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW99LA118

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing and his improper recovery procedures from a bounced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot failed to maintain a proper rate of descent during final approach which resulted in a hard landing. A witness located at the approach end of the runway stated that the accident airplane came in 'hot and fast, hit the nose first and bounced up, nosed over and impacted the nose again' resulting in the nose landing gear separating. The pilot stated that his approach was 'perfect'; however, as the airplane got closer to the runway, its sink rate increased. The pilot stated that the airplane would not respond to his control inputs to try and stop the descent. Flight control continuity was confirmed by the FAA inspector subsequent to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.