- Date
- June 23, 2009, 19:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Elyria, OH
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N34508Cessna 177B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Cleveland FSDO
- Case key
- 74120
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 failure to maintain aircraft control and adequate airspeed during the aborted landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at a low altitude.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The accident occurred during the student pilot's second landing on her first solo flight. She stated that the airplane began to porpoise immediately after the nose landing gear touched down. The airplane completed several porpoise cycles before she decided to abort the landing. After increasing engine power and becoming airborne, the airplane began to veer left toward some trees situated alongside the runway. To correct for the left veer, she applied right rudder and, in an attempt to decrease drag, reduced the flap setting from 20 to 10 degrees. The airplane stalled during a right turn, about 20 to 30 feet above the ground, and entered a nose-down attitude. She was able to level the airplane before it landed hard on all three landing gear off the left side of the runway. The engine firewall and fuselage were substantially damaged during the event. The student pilot stated that asymmetric loading of the propeller (P-Factor) caused the airplane to veer left after she increased engine power for the aborted landing. She noted that she had not received flight instruction demonstrating the airplane's flight characteristics while in ground effect at airspeeds at or near stall speed.
Factual narrative
The accident occurred during the student pilot's second landing on her first solo flight. She stated that the airplane began to porpoise immediately after the nose landing gear touched down. The airplane completed several porpoise cycles before she decided to abort the landing. After increasing engine power and becoming airborne, the airplane began to veer left toward some trees situated alongside the runway. To correct for the left veer, she applied right rudder and, in an attempt to decrease drag, reduced the flap setting from 20 to 10 degrees. The airplane stalled during a right turn, about 20 to 30 feet above the ground, and entered a nose-down attitude. She was able to level the airplane before it landed hard on all three landing gear off the left side of the runway. The engine firewall and fuselage were substantially damaged during the event. The student pilot stated that asymmetric loading of the propeller (P-Factor) caused the airplane to veer left after she increased engine power for the aborted landing. She noted that she had not received flight instruction demonstrating the airplane's flight characteristics while in ground effect at airspeeds at or near stall speed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N34508
- Reported as
- Cessna 177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17701847
- Airframe hours
- 1,791
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1F6, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2008
- Departed
- 1G1 · Elyria, OH
- Destination
- 1G1 · Elyria, OH
- Airport
- 1G1 · Elyria Airport, runway 27, 3,053 × 48 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
- 46
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 28 total · 28 in this make and model · 0 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KLPR, 4 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 8, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 MB in all.