- Date
- June 23, 2024, 10:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Hooper, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N988CPCessna 172R
- 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-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240623015519A
- Case key
- 195100
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 solo student pilot’s unstable approach to the runway, which resulted in a hard, bounced 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 student pilot was conducting her initial solo flight. During her turn to final, she realized the airplane was high and attempted to correct by adjusting pitch and engine power. The airplane bounced on initial touchdown, and then porpoised on the runway. After the multiple touchdowns, the student pilot was able to slow the airplane on the runway and taxi to the ramp. During the landing, the tail struck the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the empennage. The operator reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions of failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N988CP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17280254
- Built
- 1997
- Airframe hours
- 3,617
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Civil Air Patrol Inc
- Registered owner
- Civil Air Patrol Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 8, 2023
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- SCB · Scribner State Airport, runway 17, 4,200 × 75 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 17
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 7 total · 7 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- KFET, 11 nm away
- METAR
- KFET 231515Z AUTO 20005KT 10SM CLR 26/19 A2997 RMK AO2 T02590188=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 10, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 MB 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.