Incident
On 15 May 1999, at 1846 hours UTC, a Piper PA-34-200T, registration G-BLWD, was involved in a landing accident at Elstree Aerodrome, Herefordshire. The aircraft had just flown from Le Touquet to Elstree, which was the pilot's home airfield. The weather at Elstree was reported as CAVOK with calm wind conditions. Runway 08 was in use, offering an available landing distance of 656 metres on an asphalt surface with a downhill slope of 2%.
The pilot completed the landing checks on the downwind leg and flew a normal approach to land. After an initial touchdown, the aircraft bounced. When the aircraft touched down again, the nose landing gear was driven upwards into the surrounding structure, and the windscreen shattered. The pilot brought the aircraft to a controlled stop on the runway surface, then shut down both engines and selected the electrical system off. The airfield fire and rescue truck arrived as the pilot and passengers were vacating the aircraft via the normal exit door.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
The aircraft was a Piper PA-34-200T, manufactured in 1980, powered by two Continental TSIO-360-E piston engines. The flight was private, with the pilot and three passengers on board. No injuries were sustained by the crew or passengers. The commander held a Private Pilot's Licence, was 43 years old, and had a total flying experience of 298 hours, of which 43 hours were on type. In the last 90 days, he had flown 27 hours, and in the last 28 days, 5 hours.
Damage to the aircraft was substantial. The nose section and nose landing gear sustained damage; the right propeller was written off, and both engines were to be tested for shock loading. The nose landing gear was still supporting the aircraft's nose, although the surrounding structure was damaged. Both main landing gear were undamaged, but both propellers had contacted the runway surface, with the right propeller badly damaged.
Post-Accident Assessment
Shortly after the accident, the pilot flew with his Chief Flying Instructor and completed several circuits to Runway 08. It was rapidly established that the approach path flown by the pilot was too steep and the flare too abrupt. It was their opinion that these two factors may have led to the aircraft bouncing. The pilot was more familiar with Runway 26 and thought that he may have been deceived by the visual cues presented by the downhill slope of Runway 08.