North American P51D accident near Chandler, AZ
On March 11, 2010, a North American P51D (airplane) was involved in an accident near Chandler, AZ. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- March 11, 2010
- Place
- Chandler, AZ
- Aircraft
- North American P51D · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 33.299°N, 111.916°W
- NTSB ID
- 20100311X64200
Official records · WPR10LA156
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On March 11, 2010, about 1323 mountain standard time, an experimental North American P51D, N514NH, collided with a hangar at Stellar Airpark, Chandler, Arizona. Hirani Oil Arizona LLC was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The certificated commercial pilot was killed; the airplane sustained substantial damage by impact forces and post crash fire. The local personal flight departed Chandler, about 1300. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. Witnesses observed the airplane make a low pass; then they saw it make a climbing left turn to stay in the traffic pattern for landing. They observed the landing gear down as the airplane approached midfield on the downwind leg. One of the witnesses thought that base and final appeared normal. Another thought that the descent rate on final was high. The airplane bounced three times, and yawed to the left. During the bounces, the wings rocked with the oscillations increasing each time, reaching up to 40 degrees. The left wing was low on the last touchdown. The power increased, and the airplane appeared to level off. It maintained about 5 feet of altitude, and was yawed about 30 degrees to the runway. An instructor pilot (IP) for the P-51, who was also familiar with the accident airplane and pilot, observed the landing. He noted that the approach for landing on runway 17 appeared normal. On short final, it appeared that the pilot closed the throttle in an attempt to land very close to the approach end of the runway. The pilot
Probable cause
The pilot’s improper flare, resulting in a bounced landing, stall, and loss of directional control.
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Browse: Arizona · North American aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
