Zenair CH250 landed hard damaging the the landing gear when the pilot could not add power quickly en...

Attributes
ACN	855702
Time
Date	200910
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft Low Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 15 Flight Crew Total 1365 Flight Crew Type 465
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

I was landing; winds were easterly at about 14 KTS. Sky was clear and visibility was over 10 miles. I was on short final for runway 9; directly into the wind and reading 90 KTS of airspeed. The airstrip is surrounded by trees and I descended below tree level I lost the headwind. As I tried to flair; I realized the sink rate was too great and attempted to add power; the plane pancaked onto the runway; damaging all of the landing gear. I was alone and suffered no injuries. Damage was confined to my plane alone; less than $5;000. A passing motorist saw the landing and notified emergency services and the FAA. Their services were not required. In my opinion it was the loss of headwind that was the main factor in the damage.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Zenair CH250 landed hard damaging the the landing gear when the pilot could not add power quickly enough following the loss of a headwind.

Narrative: I was landing; winds were Easterly at about 14 KTS. Sky was clear and visibility was over 10 miles. I was on short final for Runway 9; directly into the wind and reading 90 KTS of airspeed. The airstrip is surrounded by trees and I descended below tree level I lost the headwind. As I tried to flair; I realized the sink rate was too great and attempted to add power; the plane pancaked onto the runway; damaging all of the landing gear. I was alone and suffered no injuries. Damage was confined to my plane alone; less than $5;000. A passing motorist saw the landing and notified emergency services and the FAA. Their services were not required. In my opinion it was the loss of headwind that was the main factor in the damage.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.