Hard landing involving a Mooney M20J, VH-UDQ, Dwellingup Airport, Western Australia, on 21 March 1995

The pilot reported that during the approach the airspeed was too high. He decided not to go around as the tall trees surrounding the strip made it look restricted. He flew the aircraft straight and level to wash off airspeed and felt he could still land and stop before the end of the runway.

On touchdown the aircraft ballooned. The pilot recovered to fly the aircraft parallel to the runway but did not add power, to overcome the ballooning effect, as he felt he would run short of runway. On the second touchdown the aircraft bounced and on the third touchdown the nosewheel collapsed. The aircraft skidded to a halt towards the left side of the runway.

The accident sequence was typical of other accidents where the runway perspective appears different to that previously experienced by the pilot. The perspective can be altered by a narrower than usual runway for its length and/or by the surrounding terrain or foliage.