ERA23LA291

The pilot’s improper landing flare which resulted in a runway undershoot and a hard landing, which substantially damaged the airplane’s firewall.

The pilot reported that upon returning from a local flight, during the landing flare, he noticed the airplane was still sinking so he “began pulling back on the stick.” The airplane continued to sink, and the pilot added partial power, but the sink rate was not arrested, and the airplane impacted the ground, about 10 ft before the runway threshold. Upon impact with the ground, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid about 1,000 ft down the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector found substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported that he felt he used full elevator aft but did not think he was getting full authority and that an autopilot servo bracket may have interfered with the flight control. The safety pilot on board reported that the pilot performed a flight control check before the departure with no anomalies noted. Additionally, during a postaccident examination of the flight controls, the FAA inspector found the autopilot servo bracket was loose on the elevator control tube and a flight control check found the bracket did not restrict the aft movement of the elevator. The postaccident examination otherwise found no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.