- Date
- September 13, 2023, 16:46 local (21:46 UTC)
- Place
- West Bend, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N529ERCessna 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
- Case key
- 193866
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 inadequate landing flare that resulted in a hard landing and impact with the runway.
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 he was conducting a solo cross-country flight and while landing, the nose wheel of the airplane contacted the runway surface hard. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage, firewall, and floorboard areas. The student pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunction/failure of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. In the recommendation section of his submitted NTSB form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report, he noted the need to watch [air]speed on landing, control the descent, and avoid pushing down on the yoke.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N529ER
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S9111
- Built
- 2002
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilotsmith
- Registered owner
- Ps N529er LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- GRB · Green Bay, WI
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ETB · West Bend Muni, runway 31, 4,494 × 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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 160 total · 160 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- KETB
- METAR
- METAR KETB 091515Z AUTO 03004KT 10SM CLR 17/13 A3023 RMK AO2=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 4, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.0 MB in all.