No fatalities

Hard Landing and Runway Excursion During Second Landing Attempt

Garden City, KS, United States

On July 3, 2011, an ARION AIRCRAFT LLC LIGHTNING LS-1 was involved in an aviation accident near Garden City, KS. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 7 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot conducted a go-around due to high speed, then performed a second landing which resulted in a hard landing and runway excursion, causing landing gear separation and structural damage.

Accident Details

According to the pilot, he performed a go-around during the initial landing attempt because he felt his speed was too fast. On the second attempt to land, the airplane touched down hard and subsequently departed the right side of the runway.

Damage

The right main landing gear separated from the aircraft, and the nose gear collapsed. Examination of the airframe revealed that the engine was partially separated from the fuselage. Additionally, there was substantial damage to the right wing spar box.

Pilot Report

The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies or failures prior to the accident.

Contributing factors

PilotPerformance/control parameters — Not attained/maintained