- Date
- October 30, 2003, 14:35 local (19:35 UTC)
- Place
- New Bern, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N496ACCessna 172R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Greensboro FSDO-05
- FAA report
- 20031030027339A
- Case key
- 58269
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 student pilot's improper landing flare resulting in a hard landing.
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
According to the student pilot, the solo cross-country flight was uneventful to the destination airport. The student pilot stated she entered the traffic pattern for landing on runway 13. The student pilot also stated she began the "landing flare too high". The airplane collided with the runway, bounced, collided with the runway again in a nose down attitude, and began to porpoise down the runway. The student pilot did not report experiencing a mechanical problem with the airplane during the flight or approach to land. Examination of the airplane disclosed that the nose wheel assembly had collapsed and there was structural damage at the nose wheel attach point.
Factual narrative
On October 30, 2003, at 1435 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172R, N496AC, registered to Air Care Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, nose gear collapsed during an attempted landing on runway 13 at Craven County Airport, New Bern, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The student pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated on October 30, 2003, from Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport, Rocky Mount, North Carolina at 1400.
According to the student pilot, the solo cross-country flight was uneventful to the destination airport. The student pilot stated she entered the traffic pattern for a landing on runway 13. The student pilot also stated she began the "landing flare too high". The airplane collided with the runway, bounced, collided with the runway again in a nose down attitude, and began to "porpoise" down the runway.
The student pilot did not report experiencing a mechanical problem with the airplane during the flight or approach to land. Examination of the airplane disclosed that the nose wheel assembly had collapsed and there was structural damage at the nose wheel attach point.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N496AC
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17281006
- Airframe hours
- 1,389
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Air Care Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 3, 2003 · 59 hours before
- Departed
- RWI · Rocky Mount, NC
- Destination
- EWN · New Bern, NC
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- EWN · Craven County Airport, runway 13, 4,000 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 52 total · 8 in this make and model · 6 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- EWN
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 N496AC · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.