Elkhart, IN, USA
N707HL
LUSCOMBE 8
The pilot was landing the airplane when it touched down on the left main landing gear and bounced. The pilot attempted to recover from the bounce by reducing pitch so that the main landing gear wheels would touch down onto the runway surface, but he inadvertently applied too much pitch control input and also applied left rudder control input. The airplane then veered left off the runway and nosed-over when it impacted an area of plowed snow. The pilot reported no malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
On January 2, 2013, about 1125 eastern standard time, a Luscombe 8F, N707HL, departed off the left side of the runway during landing at Mishawaka Pilots Club Airport (3C1), Elkhart, Indiana. The airplane received substantial damage. The commercial pilot and pilot-rated passenger were uninjured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the local flight that originated from 3C1 at 1050. The pilot stated that on his third landing on runway 21 (2,243 feet by 40 feet, asphalt), the airplane landed with the left wing low and touched down onto the runway surface with only the left main landing gear. The airplane bounced "awkwardly" to the right because the pilot did not have the control stick forward enough to keep the main landing gear on the runway. The pilot over-corrected in lowering the airplane nose and attempting to get touch down on both main landing gear wheels. In this attempt, the pilot inputted too much forward right control stick and then left rudder. The airplane departed toward the left and off the runway surface. The pilot stated that the runway had been plowed to about 10 feet beyond the edge of the runway. The airplane impacted the snow and nosed-over. The pilot reported that there was no mechanic malfunction/failure of the airplane.
The pilot’s improper flare, which resulted in a bounced landing.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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