- Date
- August 6, 2009, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bluffton, OH
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6186TCessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 19, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090806048429A
- Case key
- 74486
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 compensate for wind conditions and maintain aircraft control during the landing.
Findings · 4
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 airplane experienced a hard landing when it encountered a gust of wind just prior to the landing flare during a student solo flight. The student pilot reported that during the touchdown, the left main landing gear and nose landing gear impacted the runway. Unknown that the airplane was damaged, the student pilot executed a touch-and-go and flew the airplane back to his home airport. Examination of the airplane revealed the firewall was buckled.
Factual narrative
The airplane experienced a hard landing after encountering a gust of wind just prior to the landing flare during a student solo flight. The student pilot reported that during the touchdown, the left main landing gear and nose landing gear impacted the runway. Unknown that the airplane was damaged, the student pilot executed a touch-and-go and flew the airplane back to his home airport. Examination of the airplane revealed the firewall was buckled, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6186T
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S10729
- Airframe hours
- 263
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 4, 2009
- Departed
- 5G7 · Bluffton, OH
- Destination
- FDY · Findlay, OH
- Airport
- 5G7 · Bluffton Airport, runway 05, 4,126 × 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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 36 total · 36 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 19, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 430 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.