Accident Overview
On July 20, 2008, at 0745 Pacific daylight time, a Special-Light Sport Aircraft (S-LSA) Aero SP Z O O AT-4, registration N706GB, executed a hard landing that led to a porpoising sequence and collapse of the nose landing gear. The incident occurred on runway 23 at Hemet-Ryan Airport, Hemet, California. The airplane was operated by Hemet Flight Center, LLC, under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. The sole occupant, a student pilot, reported no injuries. The aircraft sustained structural damage to the firewall. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the flight was conducted in the traffic pattern without a filed flight plan.
Pilot Account
According to the student pilot, he had completed two uneventful landings earlier that day. For the accident landing, he reduced power to idle, extended 15 degrees of flaps, and noted an airspeed of 60 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS). He recalled needing to increase engine rpm because the headwind was stronger than anticipated, but subsequently reduced engine rpm to idle before "descending onto the runway."
As the airplane approached the runway, the pilot reported an airspeed of 45–40 KIAS. He leveled the aircraft and eased the control stick back "for a stall." He stated that the airplane seemed to "run out of air and dropped." The aircraft impacted the runway and bounced twice. On the second bounce, the airplane rebounded "unexpectedly high" and turned a few degrees to the left. After the second bounce, the aircraft was now at an angle relative to the runway centerline. As it touched down again, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane skidded toward the left side of the runway before coming to rest upright.
The pilot further reported that the airplane experienced no mechanical problems during the flight.