Piper PA-28-161 N373CA accident near Lake Wales, Florida

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s inadequate supervision of the student pilot’s power management, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's premature power reduction during the landing flare.

NTSB analysis

According to the flight instructor, he was conducting a training flight on short-field landings with the student pilot. During the last short-field landing, as the airplane flew over the runway numbers, the student pilot reduced the engine power to idle, and the airplane dropped and landed hard. According to the student pilot, as the airplane began to descend, he attempted a go-around, but did not advance the throttle quickly enough, and the airplane landed hard on the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall was buckled. The flight instructor and student pilot did not report any malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA12CA407 for the full record.