Grant Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grant, Michigan 49837
Sunday, September 7, 1997 18:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that he lined up on the runway for landing on runway 09 and 'I was focusing on landing on the end of the runway and was going to touch down near the approach end. I failed to flare at a high enough altitude and struck the ground very hard and bounced back into the air. The plane bounced twice more before stalling and landing on the nose gear. The nose gear broke and the airplane came to rest about half way down the runway.' Examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's fixation on the end of the runway, his failure to place the airplane in an attitude to land (flare) which resulted in a hard landing, and the pilot's failure to recover from the subsequent bounced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/7/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City GRANT
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49837
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport GRANT AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O1C
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 815
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1756 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 160
Weather Observation Facility ID GRR
Elevation of weather observation facility 795
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 31
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 12
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1713
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 3
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 380
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 8 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1052
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:33PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6391R
NTSB Number CHI97LA289
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 28-21568
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 Jul 2 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 8
Airframe Hours 4411
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JAMES R. BANDSTRA
Aircraft Owner Street Address 18830 WINDINGBROOK ROAD
Aircraft Owner City BIG RAPIDS
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 49307
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code O1C
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1730
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
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 9
Runway Length 2517
Runway Width 120
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --