- Date
- August 2, 2001, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mobile, AL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7006ACessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 20, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Birmingham FSDO-09
- FAA report
- 20010802025869A
- Case key
- 53242
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's improper landing flare that resulted in a hard landing. A factor was the pilot induced porpoise.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
On the second approach to land, the pilot elected to perform a touch-and-go landing with flaps retracted. As the pilot flared for the touchdown the airplane began to porpoise. When the airplane touched down, the pilot reported hearing a thud. Examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical malfunction or a component failure. The airplane sustained structural damage to the nose gear assembly and engine firewall. The pilot reported that the landing winds were 180 degrees at 7 to 15 knots. runway 14.
Factual narrative
On August 2, 2001, about 1130 central daylight time, a Cessna 172, N7006A, landed hard at Mobile Regional Airport in Mobile, Alabama. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the nose wheel assembly and firewall, and the private pilot and private-rated safety pilot reported no injuries. The flight departed Mobile Downtown Airport in Mobile , Alabama, at 1100.
The pilot was flying the airplane from the right seat and was practicing ILS approaches on runway 14; the safety pilot occupied the left seat. The pilot had executed one practice approach and was three miles from the airport on the second approach when the tower requested that the airplane maintain its speed. The pilot reported this speed to be 120 mph. The pilot requested and was granted a touch-and-go, and the pilot elected to perform the maneuver without flaps. The pilot stated, "As I was slowing the aircraft for landing and descending to the runway, I began porpoising, possibly from a gust. From that point forward, I am unclear as to what happened, except that my plane hit with a thud."
The post-accident examination of the airplane disclosed that the nose gear assembly and the engine firewall had sustained structural damage. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane. The examination of the airplane also failed to disclose a mechanical malfunction or component failure. The pilot reported that the prevailing winds were 180 degrees at 7-14 knots. Runway 14 was the landing runway.
Review of the Mobile Regional Airport automated surface observation system 1056 central daylight time and 1156 central daylight time observations showed no wind gusts at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7006A
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 29106
- Airframe hours
- 3,900
- Engine
- Continental O-300A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2001 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- KBFM · Mobile, AL
- Destination
- KMOB · Mobile, AL
- Airport
- KMOB · Mobile Downtown Airport, runway 14, 8,521 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- November 1, 1999
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 740 total · 230 in this make and model · 584 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KMOB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N7006A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.