- Date
- July 12, 2002, 09:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Merritt Island, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N54119Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 5, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Orlando FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020712019839A
- Case key
- 55198
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 recovery after a bounced landing and improper landing flare which resulted in the airplane colliding with the runway.
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
A student pilot practicing short field landings landed hard. The airplane bounced back into the air and the pilot did not add power to go around. The airplane then came back down hard on the nose wheel leaving damage to the firewall and cabin floor.
Factual narrative
On July 12, 2002, at 0930 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N54119, registered to a private individual and operated by the student pilot landed hard during a practice short field landing at the Merritt Island Airport, in Cocoa, Florida. The instructional flight was operated under the provision of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the student pilot was not injured. The flight departed Merritt Island, Florida, at 0900 on July 12, 2002.
According to the student pilot, while practicing a short field landing, the airplane bounced hard on the runway. When the student pilot did not add power to recover from the first bounce, the airplane bounced hard on the runway again. The subsequent examination of the airplane revealed damage to the engine firewall and the cabin floor. The landing gear system did not collapse. The student pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54119
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17274883
- Airframe hours
- 11,570
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 7, 2002 · 32.6 hours before
- Departed
- COI · Merritt Island, KY
- Destination
- COI · Merritt Island, FL
- Airport
- KCOI · Merritt Island, runway 110, 3,601 × 75 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 27 total · 23 in this make and model · 5 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- MIA, 154 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 9, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 705 KB in all.
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 N54119 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.