On 13 Jan 2020, an AIRBORNE XT912 L was involved in an aviation accident near Hawthorne, CA. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The student pilot's failure to arrest the airplane’s descent rate, which resulted in a hard landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 2 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
A student pilot reported a crosswind gust near the ground while landing, leading to a hard touchdown on all three wheels, a brief airborne moment, and a second hard landing that severed the left rear wheel. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, but no mechanical anomalies were found.
Incident Overview
A student pilot was on approach for landing when the airplane encountered a crosswind gust near the ground. The pilot attempted to abort the landing but could not arrest the descent. The airplane touched down hard on the runway on all three wheels.
Sequence of Events
Following the initial hard touchdown, the airplane briefly became airborne again before hitting the runway hard a second time. This second impact severed the left rear wheel. The airframe sustained substantial damage as a result.
Pilot Statements
The pilot stated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Regarding weather conditions, the pilot reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was light and variable. The airport's automated weather observation station reported that the wind was calm.
Contributing factors
Descent rate — Not attained/maintainedStudent/instructed pilot