Narrative:

I was on a dual cross country flight with one of my students. It had been more than 3 weeks since his last flight and we were approaching to land at an unfamiliar airport (to him). After finding the airport and orienting himself to land on runway 06 via a midfield downwind entry, left traffic, we began our approach. The student was doing all of the flying at this time. We made a turn to final and were much too high. I remarked to the student about this and asked him what he intended to do about it. The student then reduced power to idle and proceeded to lose the needed altitude. The approach from final was by no means smooth and the student's pitch inputs were erratic. The student proceeded to fly the airplane down to the numbers and flared slightly high and too much so that the plane ballooned about 10 ft. He then kept applying back pressure to the yoke at which point I remarked 'you better add power!' he added only about 300 RPM and we were sinking towards the runway in a tail low altitude. I took the controls, applied full power and slightly lowered the nose, but my reaction was too late and we hit the runway tail first, then mains. The student proceeded to retract flaps and was about to add power. I told him there would be no more flying until we investigated the tail damage (considering the plane's history of tail problems, being a PA38). I inspected the damage and determined that there was minimal damage to the aft tail bulkhead above the tail skid. We flew the airplane back to tallahassee and taxied to the maintenance hanger and left it for them to fix. The maintenance technicians replaced the rear bulkhead and beefed up some of the sheet metal around the tail. The airplane was back in service 2 days later.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BAD LNDG ACFT DAMAGE.

Narrative: I WAS ON A DUAL XCOUNTRY FLT WITH ONE OF MY STUDENTS. IT HAD BEEN MORE THAN 3 WKS SINCE HIS LAST FLT AND WE WERE APCHING TO LAND AT AN UNFAMILIAR ARPT (TO HIM). AFTER FINDING THE ARPT AND ORIENTING HIMSELF TO LAND ON RWY 06 VIA A MIDFIELD DOWNWIND ENTRY, L TFC, WE BEGAN OUR APCH. THE STUDENT WAS DOING ALL OF THE FLYING AT THIS TIME. WE MADE A TURN TO FINAL AND WERE MUCH TOO HIGH. I REMARKED TO THE STUDENT ABOUT THIS AND ASKED HIM WHAT HE INTENDED TO DO ABOUT IT. THE STUDENT THEN REDUCED PWR TO IDLE AND PROCEEDED TO LOSE THE NEEDED ALT. THE APCH FROM FINAL WAS BY NO MEANS SMOOTH AND THE STUDENT'S PITCH INPUTS WERE ERRATIC. THE STUDENT PROCEEDED TO FLY THE AIRPLANE DOWN TO THE NUMBERS AND FLARED SLIGHTLY HIGH AND TOO MUCH SO THAT THE PLANE BALLOONED ABOUT 10 FT. HE THEN KEPT APPLYING BACK PRESSURE TO THE YOKE AT WHICH POINT I REMARKED 'YOU BETTER ADD PWR!' HE ADDED ONLY ABOUT 300 RPM AND WE WERE SINKING TOWARDS THE RWY IN A TAIL LOW ALT. I TOOK THE CTLS, APPLIED FULL PWR AND SLIGHTLY LOWERED THE NOSE, BUT MY REACTION WAS TOO LATE AND WE HIT THE RWY TAIL FIRST, THEN MAINS. THE STUDENT PROCEEDED TO RETRACT FLAPS AND WAS ABOUT TO ADD PWR. I TOLD HIM THERE WOULD BE NO MORE FLYING UNTIL WE INVESTIGATED THE TAIL DAMAGE (CONSIDERING THE PLANE'S HISTORY OF TAIL PROBS, BEING A PA38). I INSPECTED THE DAMAGE AND DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS MINIMAL DAMAGE TO THE AFT TAIL BULKHEAD ABOVE THE TAIL SKID. WE FLEW THE AIRPLANE BACK TO TALLAHASSEE AND TAXIED TO THE MAINT HANGER AND LEFT IT FOR THEM TO FIX. THE MAINT TECHNICIANS REPLACED THE REAR BULKHEAD AND BEEFED UP SOME OF THE SHEET METAL AROUND THE TAIL. THE AIRPLANE WAS BACK IN SVC 2 DAYS LATER.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.