Piper PA-28-236 HK2626-G Hard Landing at La Nubia Airport

Incident Overview and Flight Details On December 23, 2010, at 11:10 local time, a Piper PA-28-236, registration HK2626-G, was involved in a serious incident at La Nubia Airport in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. The aircraft was operating a private VFR flight from Guaymaral (SKGY) to Manizales (SKMZ) with the pilot and three passengers on board. The pilot, a 62-year-old Colombian holding a private pilot license, had 1,097:20 total flight hours and 947:36 hours on type. The aircraft was a 1981 model equipped with a Lycoming O-540-J3A5D engine and Hartzell propellers, with 3,273:58 total airframe hours. ## Sequence of Events The aircraft departed Guaymaral at 10:04 local time and proceeded under visual flight rules. During the approach to runway 10 at La Nubia, the tower advised the pilot of birds in the flight path. At 11:09 local time, the aircraft made initial contact with the runway and experienced three successive bounces of increasing intensity. These bounces caused the nose landing gear to fracture and the engine to stop suddenly. The propellers and lower fuselage abraded the runway surface as the aircraft skidded to a stop on the paved surface, remaining within the runway boundaries. ## Damage and Injuries The nose gear was completely fractured without separation, and the propeller blades were bent backward at the tips. The engine mount beams were slightly bent, and the nose gear fairing detached. The runway sustained 226 meters of surface abrasion. All four occupants evacuated the aircraft unassisted and were uninjured. No fire occurred. ## Investigation Findings The investigation found no abnormal operating conditions in the powerplant that could have contributed to the incident. The aircraft was not required to carry flight recorders under Colombian regulations. The final report does not explicitly state a probable cause in the provided text.