Piper PA-28R-180 N7559J accident near Kingfisher, Oklahoma

Probable cause

The pilot's inadequate airspeed while landing, which led to an aerodynamic stall and a hard landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot said that this was his second landing on the grass strip that day. The winds were gusty and there was a slight crosswind. He turned onto final approach at 80 knots indicated airspeed with the landing gear down and flaps fully extended. He descended to the round out (flare), but the airplane "floated." He lowered the nose to allow the airplane to settle and he heard the stall warning horn intermittently. He applied full throttle and the engine responded but the airplane continued to descend. The airplane landed "hard." The left wing struck the ground, the airplane bounced, and then the right wing struck the ground. The nose gear collapsed and the airplane skidded to a stop. The pilot said that he didn't take into consideration the density altitude and that if he had maintained a higher landing speed the airplane would not have stalled. An examination of the airplane revealed no preexisting anomalies.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN10LA303 for the full record.