N9271H

On October 9, 2003, about 1730 eastern daylight time, a Howard DGA-15P, N9271H, was substantially damaged during an aborted landing at Captain Walter Francis Duke Regional Airport (2W6), Leonardtown, Maryland. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

The pilot stated that after performing some maneuvers for approximately 20 minutes, he returned to 2W6 for landing on runway 11. The runway was 4,150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and consisted of asphalt. The pilot did not attain the proper pitch attitude for a 3-point landing, and the airplane bounced. The airplane bounced a second time, and the pilot attempted to perform an aborted landing. However, the airplane was not aligned with the runway, and as the pilot added power, the airplane drifted left. The pilot attempted to correct the drift with right rudder, but the airplane struck a fence off the left side of the runway. The airplane came to rest between a grass area and the fence, in a nose-down attitude. During the impact, the right wing and fuselage sustained substantial damage.

The pilot reported a total flight experience of 4,191 hours; of which, about 54 hours were in the same make and model as the accident airplane.

The reported wind at an airport approximately 7 miles east of the accident site, at 1755, was variable at 3 knots.