# NTSB CEN22LA398: Cessna 172I, N46202, Olivet, MI, August 28, 2022 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report - Date: August 28, 2022, 13:45 local (17:45 UTC) - Place: Olivet, MI - Coordinates: 42.441463, -84.92437 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.4415&lon=-84.9244&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 3 - NTSB office: Central Region - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration, Grand Rapids FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 105814 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN22LA398 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/105814/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=105814 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN22LA398 ## Probable cause The pilot’s failure to attain/maintain a proper glidepath that resulted in a hard landing and impact with the runway. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Performance/control parameters: descent/approach/glide path](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062040): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172I, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062040/cases.md?model=2072426), [All aircraft, 809 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062040/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 172I, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md?model=2072426), [All aircraft, 2,102 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md) - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Cessna 172I, 6 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=2072426), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) - [Approach-VFR pattern final: Attempted remediation/recovery](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/060); cases with it: [Cessna 172I, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/060/sequence.md?model=2072426), [All aircraft, 1,422 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/060/sequence.md) ## Analysis The student pilot was on a visual final for a low approach when he applied engine power to stabilize the descent. The engine did not respond, and the airplane continued to descend and landed hard on the runway. The airplane then nosed over and sustained substantial damage. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left and right wing fuel tanks contained useable fuel. Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot stated that the engine did not respond, but it is likely that the student pilot delayed the application of engine power and when he applied engine power, it exceeded the response capability of the airplane/engine that he perceived as delayed. The student pilot also reported that he’d applied carburetor heat for about 10 seconds when he was about one mile from the runway. There was no engine roughness during the application. He then turned it off. An accident report form was not received from the student pilot. Weather conditions were conducive for serious carburetor icing at glide power. ## Factual narrative On August 28, 2022, at 1345 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172I, N46202, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Olivet, Michigan. The student pilot was uninjured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The student pilot was on a visual final for a low approach when he applied engine power to stabilize the descent. The engine did not respond, and the airplane continued to descend and landed hard land on the runway. The airplane nosed over and sustained substantial damage to both wings, the left wing strut, the fuselage, and the vertical stabilizer. The student pilot reported that he’d applied carburetor heat for about 10 seconds when he was about one mile from the runway. There was no engine roughness during the application. He then turned it off. Weather conditions were conducive for serious carburetor icing at glide power. A National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report Form 6120.1 was not received from the student pilot. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left and right wing fuel tanks contained useable fuel. Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N46202](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N46202-2023-10-21), registration cancelled 2023-10-21, S/N 17257104, built 1968 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 172I - Registry model: [Cessna 172I](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172i) (registry code 2072426) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 17257104 - Year built: 1968 - Airframe hours: 3308.3 - Engines: Lycoming O-320 reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, June 1, 2022 - Airport: PVT, Private, runway 30, 1,900 × 75 ft, grass/turf - Equipment: Unknown ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 47; injuries: none; student; medical: class 3; seat: left; flight hours: 100.8 total, 21.4 in this make and model, 5.2 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 170° at 7 knots, gusting 11 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 10,000 ft broken - Temperature: 82 °F, dew point 70 °F - Altimeter: 29.97 inHg - Observed at: FPK, 9 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20220828015999A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20220828015999A), Aug 28, 2022: Cessna 172I, Olivet, MI, Substantial damage. On 08/28/2022 at approximately 1345 EDT a Cessna 172I, [privacy data omitted] experienced a hard landing during a low pass over a private grass runway,… ## Other investigations on N46202 (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB CHI79FEX31](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI79FEX31), May 21, 1979: Cessna 172 (N46202), Martinsville, IN, substantial damage ## Docket (9 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 20, 2023, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=105814. 85.5 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 request to pilot (item 1, PDF, 1 page, 84 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=15942470&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=NTSB%20Accident%20Report%20From%206120;%20Cessna%20172I%20N46202%20Master_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Memorandum of record (item 2, PDF, 1 page, 63 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=15975419&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MOR-Rel.pdf - Memorandum of record dec 7 2023 (item 3, PDF, 1 page, 66 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=16440686&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MOR%20-%20Pilot-Rel.pdf - Wreckage diagram by FAA inspector (item 4, PDF, 1 page, 4.3 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=15971897&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Accident%20Sketch_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Aircraft examination statement (item 5, PDF, 2 pages, 81 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=15956722&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=NTSB%20Inspection%20of%20N46202-Rel.pdf - Photos (item 6, PDF, 3 pages, 1.6 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=15975276&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Photos-Rel.pdf - Aircraft logbook entries of last annual inspections (item 7, PDF, 2 pages, 3.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=15984585&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Last%20Annual%20Inspection%20of%20Airframe%20and%20Engine_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Pilot logbook (item 8, PDF, 8 pages, 75.9 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=16017648&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Pilot%20Logbook_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Carburetor icing probability chart (item 9, PDF, 1 page, 119 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=16440997&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Carburetor%20Icing%20Probability%20Chart-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.