Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Memorial Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mesa, Arizona 85212
Saturday, March 15, 2003 8:09 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated flight instructor (CFI) reported he was providing instruction to a student in preparation for a private pilot certificate. The CFI simulated a loss of engine power by retarding the throttle, and the student made an approach to land on a runway. Prior to actual touchdown, the CFI terminated the simulation and instructed the student to add power and climb. The CFI stated that the engine did not immediately respond, and the airplane continued to descend, hitting the runway hard. Shortly after runway contact, the engine responded with full power, and the CFI elected to abort the landing. An airborne inspection of the landing gear disclosed that the landing gear would not extend completely, and the CFI elected to make a gear-up landing at another airport with rescue facilities. The airplane landed uneventfully gear-up, but received structural damage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's delayed remedial action during a go-around, which resulted in an inadvertent touchdown and hard landing. Factors associated with the accident are a momentary loss of engine power, and the inadvertent touchdown.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 809 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | MESA |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85212 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331847N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1113933W |
| Event Location Airport | MEMORIAL AIRFIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 34AZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 1185 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 756 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1135 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 17000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16916 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N842PS |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA113 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA24 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-4685 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 27 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARIZONA CLOUD BUSTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4302 E. SILVERWOOD DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | PHOENIX |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85048 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | P19 |
| Departure City | CHANDLER |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2004 6:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | LABJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |