No fatalities

Tailwheel Damage and Propeller Strike After Bounced Landing

Talkeetna, AK, United States

On May 11, 2008, a de Havilland DHC-2 operated by K2 Aviation was involved in an aviation accident near Talkeetna, AK. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's inadvertent activation of the main landing gear brakes during the recovery from a bounced landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 17 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1785761257Data APIEditorial standards

A wheel ski-equipped airplane sustained structural damage after a bounced landing, with locked wheels causing nose-down and propeller strike. No mechanical malfunction was reported.

Incident Details

The commercial pilot was landing a wheel ski-equipped airplane on a hard surface runway at the conclusion of a positioning flight. According to a report from the operator's director of operations, the pilot bounced during the initial flare and touchdown on the right main landing gear wheel. On the second touchdown, when both main wheels contacted the runway, the wheels appeared to be locked, leaving skid marks on the runway surface.

Sequence of Events

Following the second touchdown, the airplane nosed down, and the propeller struck the runway. The aircraft then fell back onto the tailwheel, which resulted in a broken tailwheel strut and structural buckling of the aft fuselage bulkhead.

Operator's Assessment

The director of operations stated that the airplane did not have a mechanical malfunction. He suggested that the pilot may have had his feet on the brakes when the airplane touched down for the second time, which could have caused the wheels to lock.

Contributing factors

Causes

Unneccessary use/operation

Other contributing factors

PilotDamaged/degraded