- Date
- October 17, 2004, 18:58 local (23:58 UTC)
- Place
- Auburn, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N29459Cessna 177
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Birmingham FSDO
- FAA report
- 20041017024819A
- Case key
- 60369
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 resulting in a hard landing. A factor was the pilot's diverted attention.
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 pilot, while on short final to land on runway 36, he reached up to adjust his glasses and one of the lenses fell out of the frame. The pilot reported that this event distracted him, and he landed the airplane hard on the nose wheel and collapsed the nose gear. Examination of the nose gear revealed the nose wheel broke away from the strut. The nose gear assembly was bent aft and the firewall as buckled. The pilot did not report any mechanical or flight control anomalies prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On October 17, 2004, at 1858 central daylight time, a Cessna 177, N29459, registered to and operated by a private owner, collided with the runway during an attempted landing at Auburn Airport, Alabama. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the pilot was uninjured. The flight departed Columbia Airport, Columbia, South Carolina, on October 17, 2004 at 1500.
According to the pilot, while on short final to land on runway 36, he reach up to adjust his eyeglasses and one of the lenses fell out of the frame. The pilot reported that this event distracted him, and he "hit on the nosewheel" and collapsed the nose gear. Examination of the nose gear revealed the nose wheel broke away from the strut. The nose gear assembly was bent aft and the firewall as buckled. The pilot did not report any mechanical or flight control anomalies prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N29459
- Reported as
- Cessna 177
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17700901
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Campbell Robin N
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- CAE · Columbia, SC
- Destination
- AUO · Auburn, AL
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- AUO · Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts, runway 36, 5,265 × 100 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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- August 13, 2004
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 269 total · 81 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- AUO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.