NTSB Factual Report

On June 13, 2004, at 1300 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-28-180, N9009J, landed hard on runway 28 at the Lake Riverside Estates Airport (54CL), Anza, California. The private pilot and pilot-rated passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. A private individual owned the airplane, and the pilot was operating it the under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed. The local flight departed approximately 15 minutes prior to the accident.

In a written statement provided by the pilot, he reported that he was the pilot-in-command and sat in the left seat. The pilot-rated passenger, who was contemplating buying the airplane, was in the right seat. They departed on the local flight and entered the traffic pattern at Lake Riverside for landing after an uneventful flight. The pilot-rated passenger was flying the airplane while in the traffic pattern. While they were on the base leg, the pilot noticed that they were at 80 knots with one notch of flaps extended, and they were "overshooting final" approach. The pilot then called to the pilot-rated passenger, "my airplane," took control of the airplane, and banked the airplane in an attempt to realign the airplane with the runway centerline. The airspeed was 75 knots, and the pilot kept the flaps at one notch.

The pilot stated that while on final approach they "experienced a severe downdraft, and it felt like the vertical speed increased to the ground." The airplane impacted a berm short of the runway. The pilot believed that he could salvage the hard landing, and elected to stay on the ground. However, the pilot-rated passenger "reached over and applied full throttle and pulled back on the [control] yoke." The pilot assumed that the passenger wanted to perform an aborted landing, but the pilot did not share the same intentions and wanted to keep the airplane on the ground with its unknown damage.

At this point of the flight, the airplane became airborne and experienced a "power on stall." The pilot "fought" the passenger for control of the airplane as it veered to the left due to "P-factor." The airplane impacted a series of culverts and oscillated four or five times before the pilot could reduce the power and stop the airplane.

The pilot reported that there were no problems with the airplane and/or engine. The pilot reported that the wind was from the south at 15 knots with gusts. At 1253, the weather observation facility at Palm Springs, California (24 miles north-northeast of the accident site), reported that the wind was from 100 degrees at 11 knots. At 1256, the weather observation facility at Oceanside, California (34 miles south-southwest of the accident site), reported that the wind was from 230 degrees at 8 knots.

The pilot reported obtaining a total of 262 total flight hours, of which 94.5 hours were in the accident airplane make and model.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's misjudged altitude and speed, which resulted in an undershoot and a collision with a berm. Also causal was the control interference from the passenger.