Tooele, UT, USA
N8503J
Zenair CH 2000
According to the flight instructor, the airplane touched down on the main landing gear and bounced. He added "power to help soften the landing," and at this point, the student "released his grip on the flight controls, causing the nose of the aircraft to pitch up dramatically. Almost immediately after the initial upward pitch, the aircraft dropped down hard on the nose wheel, which broke off." The airplane slid off the right side of the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to a stop nose down. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the firewall was damaged.
On April 22, 2006, about 1600 mountain daylight time, a Zenair CH 2000 airplane, N8503J, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing on runway 35 at Bolinder Field - Tooele Valley Airport, Tooele, Utah. The flight instructor and the student pilot were not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. The flight departed Salt Lake City International Airport about 1510 with an intended destination of Tooele. According to the flight instructor, the airplane touched down on the main landing gear and bounced. He added "power to help soften the landing," and at this point, the student "released his grip on the flight controls, causing the nose of the aircraft to pitch up dramatically. Almost immediately after the initial upward pitch, the aircraft dropped down hard on the nose wheel, which broke off." The airplane slid off the right side of the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to a stop nose down. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the firewall was damaged.
The flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the student pilot during the landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the student pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing flare.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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