- Date
- September 22, 2023, 07:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Midland, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N391SPCessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20230922013759A
- Case key
- 193143
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, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing, and the nose landing gear collapse.
Findings · 2
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 student pilot reported, that during the landing flare, the airplane floated down the runway. He attempted to settle the airplane softly onto the runway, but the airplane bounced twice and came to rest in the dirt on the side of the runway. A post-accident examination revealed that the nose landing gear folded forward, which resulted in substantial damage to the tunnel structure. The student pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N391SP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8286
- Built
- 1999
- Airframe hours
- 7,726
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Floris Flight Services LLC
- Registered owner
- Floris Flight Services LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 24, 2023
- Departed
- KMDD · Midland, TX
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- MDD · Midland Airpark, runway 16, 3,977 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 48 total · 48 in this make and model · 36 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KMDD
- METAR
- KMDD 221235Z AUTO 17008KT 10SM CLR 24/16 A3000
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 1, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 867 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.