Cleburne Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cleburne, Texas 76031
Monday, April 19, 1999 18:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The private pilot failed to maintain a proper rate of descent during final approach which resulted in a hard landing. A witness located at the approach end of the runway stated that the accident airplane came in 'hot and fast, hit the nose first and bounced up, nosed over and impacted the nose again' resulting in the nose landing gear separating. The pilot stated that his approach was 'perfect'; however, as the airplane got closer to the runway, its sink rate increased. The pilot stated that the airplane would not respond to his control inputs to try and stop the descent. Flight control continuity was confirmed by the FAA inspector subsequent to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing and his improper recovery procedures from a bounced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/19/1999
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City CLEBURNE
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76031
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport CLEBURNE MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID F18
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 854
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1555 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID NFW
Elevation of weather observation facility 650
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 28
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 2537
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 329
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 20 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1140
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 11:29AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N32458
NTSB Number FTW99LA118
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-140
Aircraft Serial Number 28-7525070
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TONY F. HODGE
Aircraft Owner Street Address ROUTE 3, BOX 252
Aircraft Owner City QUINLAN
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75474
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name SPLIT-S AVIATION
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2290 WEST HICKS ROAD
Operator City FORT WORTH
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code T67
Departure City QUINLAN
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1730
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code F18
Destination City
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 15
Runway Length 5700
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --