Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The student pilot's failure to maintain a proper glidepath during landing and his misjudged flare which resulted in the hard landing and subsequent failure of the nose landing gear. Factors were the aborted landing performed by the pilot and the degradation in climb performance due to the propeller strike.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On June 11, 2005, at 1738 central daylight time, an amateur-built Mazzon Dragonfly, N821KM, piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing near Garden City, Kansas. The pilot had previously executed an aborted landing due to a bounced landing. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The pilot received minor injuries. The local flight originated at 1733.
In a written report, the pilot stated that he had been performing touch and go landings. He reported that he landed the airplane at too steep an angle and the propeller struck the ground. He said that he was able to gain about 500 feet of altitude, but "lost thrust" and executed an emergency landing into a bean field approximately 1/2 mile from the end of the runway. He reported no pre-impact mechanical failures of the airplane. The report stated that he had been performing landings to runway 17 ( 7,300 feet by 100 feet), at the Garden City Regional Airport, Garden City, Kansas.
The pilot possessed a student pilot certificate. He did not have an endorsement in his logbook authorizing solo flight in the accident make and model airplane.
On-scene examination revealed that the nose landing gear had broken off during the landing attempt at the airport.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# CHI05LA137