Incident Overview
A private pilot completed a 25-nautical-mile cross-country night flight and performed a full-stop landing. The pilot then departed again and remained in the airport traffic pattern for a second landing. During the touchdown of the second landing, the airplane impacted the runway hard and bounced back into the air before settling back on the runway.
Passenger Injury and Post-Landing Actions
One of the two passengers reported hurting her back during the hard landing. In response, the pilot taxied to the airport's fixed base of operation (FBO) and shut down the airplane. After examining the airplane for damage and finding none, the pilot elected to depart with the passengers and successfully flew back to their originating airport.
Subsequent Discovery
Approximately three months later, during the airplane's annual inspection, damage to the engine firewall was identified. The pilot later reported that there were no malfunctions or defects with the airplane's flight controls that contributed to the hard landing.