N5402H

On August 22, 1999, about 1600 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-14 airplane, N5402H, sustained substantial damage while landing at a private airstrip located about six miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The certificated private pilot, and the sole passenger aboard, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Cantwell Airport, Cantwell, Alaska, about 1500.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on September 14, the pilot reported that during the landing flare, about three feet above the runway, the airplane stalled, and the main landing gear struck the runway. The pilot added: "I'm just fairly new in this airplane, and I just haven't gotten the hang of it yet."

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector from the Fairbanks Flight Standards District Office, traveled to the accident airstrip on August 30, and examined the airplane. The inspector reported that the right landing gear attach point, and a fuselage longeron, sustained substantial damage during the hard landing.

An NTSB Pilot/Operator report (form 6120.1/2) was sent to the accident pilot on August 23, 1999, but the completed report was not returned.