What happened
On 19 March 2014, a Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee Archer II, registration G-BHWZ, was performing a private flight at Compton Abbas Airfield in Dorset. During the landing phase on the grass Runway 26, the pilot executed a standard approach using full flaps. The aircraft made a smooth touchdown approximately 100 metres past the runway threshold.
As the aircraft continued its rollout, it experienced a sudden nose-up pitch. This was immediately followed by three subsequent pitch oscillations that decreased in intensity. The pilot noted that the motion felt as though the aircraft had struck a bump. The incident resulted in damage to the propeller and the nosewheel spat, though there were no injuries to the pilot.
The investigation
The investigation examined the circumstances of the touchdown and the runway surface conditions. The pilot suggested that an unseen undulation in the grass, potentially linked to a footpath that intersects the runway, might have been a contributing factor to the sudden change in the aircraft's pitch.