NTSB Factual Report

On June 12, 2003, about 1100 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 210L, N1198Q, was substantially damaged while landing at Crisfield Municipal Airport (W41), Crisfield, Maryland. The certificate flight instructor and the private pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the instructional flight. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed Martin State Airport (MTN), Baltimore, Maryland, about 1000, and was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the flight instructor, the purpose of the flight was to conduct a biennial flight review for the private pilot, who occupied the left seat. The flight departed on an IFR flight plan to Salisbury, Maryland. In the Salisbury area, the flight plan was cancelled, and the pilots continued to receive traffic advisories as they flew towards Crisfield. After the Crisfield airport was visually identified, the advisories were cancelled. The flight instructor asked to perform the landing, and the private pilot relinquished the flight controls to him.

The flight instructor stated:

"On approach to landing at Crisfield, I ...was on glidepath, 2 bar VASI (Red over White) on Runway 14. The runway was damp. The adjacent grass-covered surface was sopping. There was a three-feet-deep blind ditch to the Left (East) of the runway. A wind shear was encountered, and went from head to tailwind. The airspeed was 75 MPH. The aircraft bounced and moved to the left of the blacktop and the landing gear dropped into a 3' drainage ditch. The plane then progressively slowed to a stop. Upon exiting the plane I noticed the wind was 15 knots from the east."

The private pilot stated:

"I was in the midst of a Biannual Flight Review with [the CFI]...when he asked that we divert from our Martin State to Salisbury, Maryland IFR flight plan, and go to Crisfield, Maryland instead. I asked Patuxent Approach for the change, which was approved with and altitude change to 3,000 feet. A few miles from Crisfield, over the Big Annemessex River, we reported the airport in sight and canceled IFR. [The CFI] ...then asked for the controls and began a descent to pattern altitude. A minute or so later I asked his intentions; he said he wanted to land the airplane. I said: "you have the airplane; he responded: "I have the airplane". When he had lined-up on the centerline of Runway 14, I began to call-out the airspeed on a continuous basis. At 70 knots and about 20 [feet] over the runway the airspeed decayed almost instantly. We dropped onto the left edge of the pavement, the left gear striking first, and bounced into the air. [The CFI] applied full throttle, the engine responded, but the airspeed was too low for flight. We "mushed" along for approximately 200 yards on the east side of the runway, struck the grass a few times, then hit a ditch, skidded along for another 50 [feet] and stopped."

A witness reported that she was standing in the door of the airport office, and looked into the office to check the winds, which were from the south-southwest at 8 to 15 mph. She then observed the accident airplane on final approach. The airplane was close to the runway when she observed the left wing dip, followed by the nose pitching up. The airplane hit the runway in a nose high pitch attitude, and bounced back into the air. The airplane struck the runway again, on its nose wheel first, followed by the main landing gear.

When interviewed, the flight instructor reported that when the airplane settled, he advanced the throttle, and the engine responded. However, he had 40 degrees of flaps selected, and the airplane would not fly.

When interviewed, the private pilot reported that the engine responded to the throttle movement by the CFI; however, the airplane dropped again, and by that time, it was off of the left side of the runway.

According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), runway 14 was 2,490 feet long and 75 feet wide, with an asphalt surface.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing and his improper flare which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing factors were the windshear and the crosswind.