NTSB Factual Report

On September 28, 2008, about 1800 eastern daylight time, a Diamond DA42, N482TS, was substantially damaged during landing at the Lancaster Airport (LNS), Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The airplane was owned and operated by Onyx Acquisitions, LLC of Leesburg, Virginia. The certificated commercial pilot and pilot-rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the positioning flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The flight originated at Leesburg Executive Airport (JYO), Leesburg, Virginia, at 1700.

The airplane was being ferried to Lancaster for an annual inspection. Both pilots were flight instructors for AV-ED Flight School; the pilot in the right seat reported that he was receiving a checkout from the pilot in the left seat. The pilot in the right seat reported that this was his first flight in a DA 42, and he was at the controls during the entire accident flight.

Both pilots reported that the en route portion of the flight was normal and "three green" indications were observed after lowering the landing gear on approach to Lancaster. The flying pilot reported the airplane "hopped off the ground" after the initial touchdown, and then settled on the main gear. As he lowered the nose to the runway, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane came to a stop approximately 1,000 feet from touchdown. The flying pilot reported that the landing was not "hard."

An inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) interviewed the Director of Operations at AV ED Flight School on October 29, 2008. The Director of Operations reported that the non-flying pilot informed him that the airplane was flared too soon and "stopped flying" about 10 to 15 feet above the runway. The airplane subsequently "made a hard landing which caused substantial damage to the aircraft."

The non-flying pilot was interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on April 7, 2009. He reported that after the initial touchdown, the airplane "floated" before touching down again. He stated that the DA42 rarely bounces and this was uncharacteristic of the airplane. He did not consider the landing "hard." When asked if the nose gear could have touched down first, he replied "no," however the airplane did touch down in a "flat" attitude.

Following the accident, the airplane was examined by an engineer from Diamond Aircraft Corporation as part of a repair assessment. The examination revealed that the nose gear assembly had breached the top of the wheel well substantially damaging the surrounding structure. In addition, during the assessment, a laser line was positioned on each main gear strut to determine the position of the main gear trailing arms. When the left and right hand trailing arms were compared, the left hand trailing arm was twisted approximately 10 degrees. The corresponding wheel/tire was toed out and had a negative camber. There was no wear patterns on the left tire identified that could be associated with prolonged operation in this condition. A small nick was found on the left-hand trailing arm, indicating that the dampener bottomed out and the trailing arm had made contact with the left main strut.

The flying pilot possessed commercial and flight instructor certificates with airplane single- and multi-engine land ratings. He reported 741 hours total flight time, including 154 hours of multi-engine time. He reported no flight time in the DA42 prior to the accident flight.

The non-flying pilot possessed commercial and flight instructor certificates with airplane single- and multi-engine land ratings. He reported 1,070 hours total flight time, including 230 hours of multi-engine time. He reported 70 hours of flight time in the DA42 at the time of the accident.

The 1753 weather observation for LNS included the following: surface winds from 330 degrees at 4 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, an overcast ceiling at 4,600 feet, temperature 68 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point 64 degrees Fahrenheit, and an altimeter setting of 29.89 inches of mercury.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's improper flare which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the accident airplane make and model.