No fatalities

26 Sep 2015: PIPER PA 24 260 — GORDON E. HERING — West Bend, WI

West Bend, WI, United States

On 26 Sep 2015, a PIPER PA 24 260 operated by GORDON E. HERING was involved in an aviation accident near West Bend, WI. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain his descent rate during the landing, which resulted in a hard landing and runway excursion. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot reported a hard landing and runway excursion after initiating flare; landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to right wing and fuselage.

Incident Overview

A pilot reported that upon initiating the landing flare, his sight picture appeared correct. However, the airplane impacted the runway before transitioning to a horizontal attitude. The hard landing caused the airplane to bounce, exit the runway to the left, and collapse the landing gear.

Damage and Conditions

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot stated that no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies existed with the airplane that would have prevented normal flight operations.

Pilot Report

According to the pilot, the approach and flare initially seemed normal. Despite the correct sight picture, the aircraft contacted the runway prematurely, leading to the hard landing and subsequent excursion. The pilot did not report any preexisting issues with the aircraft systems or controls.

Contributing factors

PilotDescent rate — Not attained/maintained