What happened
The incident occurred while the pilot was conducting flight training maneuvers focused on short-field landing techniques. The primary objective was to achieve precise touchdown placement, commonly referred to as "hitting the numbers" on the runway surface. During the final approach phase, the pilot acknowledged that the aircraft was not properly aligned with the runway centerline.
Upon touchdown, the aircraft experienced a hard impact followed by a bounce. In an attempt to abort the landing or maintain altitude, the pilot applied additional engine power and pulled back on the controls, raising the nose to an excessively high angle of attack. This maneuver exceeded the critical angle of attack for the aircraft's current configuration.
Consequently, the airplane entered a stall condition. The loss of lift caused the aircraft to descend rapidly and impact the runway surface. The final resting position was located to the left of the runway centerline. At the time of impact, the aircraft was in a nose-low attitude with the left wing lower than the right.
The investigation
The investigation relied primarily on the pilot's account of the events leading up to the accident. There were no mechanical failures reported prior to the stall. The sequence of events indicates that the combination of poor alignment, hard touchdown, and excessive pitch input during a power application led directly to the aerodynamic stall.
Findings
- The pilot failed to maintain proper runway alignment during the approach.
- Excessive nose-up pitch attitude was applied after touchdown.
- The aircraft stalled due to exceeding the critical angle of attack.
- Impact occurred off-centerline with a left-wing-down orientation.