NTSB Factual Report

On December 9, 2001, at 1645 central standard time, a Dassault Falcon 100, N202DN, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing on runway 15 (5,002 feet by 100 feet, dry/asphalt) at the Lawrence Municipal Airport (LWC), Lawrence, Kansas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The business flight was operating on an instrument flight rules flight plan under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot and copilot reported no injuries. The cross country flight originated at Madison, Mississippi, at 1535, and was en route to Lawrence, Kansas.

In his written statement, the pilot said that the copilot was flying a visual approach to runway 15 with the pilot backing him up in the left seat. The pilot said, "With gear down and full flaps at approximately 15 to 20 feet above the runway and 115 KTS, the nose abruptly dropped and there was no elevator effectiveness with the yoke pulled back to the mechanical stop." The pilot said, "After landing, I noticed that the stabilizer trim indicated full nose down in the cockpit and, upon exterior inspection, the stab was in that position."

In his written statement, the copilot said, "I made my turn to base and proceeded to make my turn to final. No problems with the controllability were noted at this time. The turn to final was made and the airplane was lined up with the runway on final approach with normal glide path. My altitude was dropping normally and my airspeed was approx[imately] 140 knots." The copilot said, "When it got time to pull the power back to idle for landing our airspeed was approx[imately] 110 knots and power was reduced. At that point in time the nose of the aircraft seemed to pitch over towards the runway and increase speed. I pulled back on the yoke to raise the nose and at that same instance the pilot recognized the pitch over and pulled back on the yoke at the same time. The yoke did not seem to pull all of the way to its full extent of travel and felt to mechanically stop at about 3/4 the way travel. Even with both pilot's pulling on the yoke it seemed unresponsive and failed to raise the nose back to a proper landing attitude. The aircraft hit the runway very hard and came to a stop on the runway."

A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane at the Lawrence Municipal Airport. The left main landing gear strut was broken upward and had penetrated the top wing skin. The leading edge of the left wing was broken loose. The inboard portions of both wings showed skin wrinkles. There were bends and buckles in the fuselage beginning at the wings trailing edges and running forward to the cabin door. The stabilizer was positioned at 4 degrees nose down. An inspection of the flight control system revealed no anomalies. An examination of the engine, engine controls, and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies. A conformity check of the autopilot and flight control system, conducted on January 9, 2002, revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause

The copilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing. Factors relating to this accident were the copilot's improper in-flight decision not to execute a go-around, the copilot not performing a go-around, the inadequate crew coordination prior to landing between the pilot and copilot, and the improperly set stabilizer trim.