Incident Overview
The pilot-in-command, a certificated flight instructor, was providing turbine transition instruction to a second pilot. The accident airplane had been modified with the installation of a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engine.
Sequence of Events
According to the instructor pilot, the propeller governor control was causing the engine to surge. He stated that just prior to touchdown on runway 31, while the second pilot was manipulating the controls, the engine surged again, and the airplane landed hard.
In the pilot-in-command's written report and during a subsequent telephone conversation, he noted that during previous landings, the second pilot had failed to "carry power so as not to land hard again." The instructor then explained the differences between a turbine engine and a piston engine to the second pilot. He wrote: "I watched very closely until we were over the runway, and once again, quick as a cat, we stalled and hit hard."
Damage
The airplane's fuselage sustained substantial damage.
Contributing Information
No additional causal factors were identified in the available information.