What happened
The pilot arrived at the airport but failed to turn base in time, resulting in an overflight of the runway threshold. He continued into the left downwind leg for his initial approach. During this first attempt, the pilot determined that his airspeed was excessive and elected to abort the landing.
He initiated a second approach. Upon touchdown, the aircraft landed hard and bounced off the pavement. The pilot applied power to maintain altitude during the bounce. At this moment, a gust of wind pushed the aircraft to the left side of the runway. To execute a go-around, the pilot advanced the throttle to full power.
The aircraft continued its leftward drift. The left wing struck sawgrass growing near the runway edge. This contact caused the airplane to spin around on the ground before coming to a complete stop. The aircraft was found upright, facing in the opposite direction of its travel path.
The investigation
Examination of the flight sequence revealed that the pilot's decision to overfly the airport contributed to the tight traffic pattern. The hard landing and subsequent bounce were critical factors. The application of full power during a low-altitude bounce, combined with lateral wind displacement, led to the loss of directional control.
Findings
- The pilot overflew the airport and entered a left downwind.
- He aborted his first landing attempt because his airspeed was too high.
- During the second attempt, he landed hard, the airplane bounced, and the pilot added power.
- A gust of wind pushed the airplane to the left, and the pilot added full power to go around.
- The airplane continued to the left, the left wing contacted sawgrass and the airplane spun around.
- The airplane came to a full stop, upright, facing the opposite direction of travel.