Piper PA-42 N28DA accident near Belmar, New Jersey

Probable cause

The pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot in the right seat stated that he was the "flying pilot" at the time of the accident. The flight proceeded normally in instrument meteorological conditions. The pilot made visual contact with the airport between 1 and 2 miles from the airport, and the pilot circled to land on runway 14. When he was between 200 and 300 hundred feet above ground level, he corrected his turn to final with a "slightly aggressive bank angle" while simultaneously reducing power, resulting in an excessive sink rate. He rolled the wings to level and increased power. He was not able to arrest the sink rate before the aircraft impacted the runway. The impact collapsed the left main landing gear and caused the airplane to swerve left. The airplane came to rest approximately 1000 feet beyond the threshold off the left side of the runway. The "flying pilot" had over 133 hours in the make and model of the accident aircraft, 20 hours as pilot in command (PIC), and 3 hours as PIC in the preceding 90 days.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA09CA190 for the full record.