- Date
- January 3, 2007, 12:51 local (18:51 UTC)
- Place
- Alton, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N364MACessna 172S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20070103000249A
- Case key
- 65163
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 inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in the airplane impacting a runway sign. A factor in the accident was the student pilot's misjudged landing flare.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot reported that she was on her first solo flight and her first landing attempt when she flared "too early, bounced hard and ballooned." She said that she attempted to recover, but bounced a second time, and went off the left side of the runway as she aborted the landing. The airplane struck a runway sign, and sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
The airplane impacted a runway sign during an attempted aborted landing. The student pilot reported that the accident flight was her first solo flight. The pilot stated that the intent of the flight was to perform touch and goes on runway 17 (6,500 feet by 100 feet, dry asphalt). The pilot reported that during her first landing attempt she began her flare "too early, bounced hard and ballooned." The pilot stated that she maintained "pitch attitude and added a little throttle" to recover from the bounced landing. The pilot reported that she bounced a second time and went off the left side of the runway. The pilot stated that "there was no salvaging the landing" and that the airplane was headed directly toward a runway sign. The right landing gear impacted the runway sign as the pilot attempted to abort the landing. The airplane came to rest in a grassy area off the left side of runway 17. The reported winds were 180 degrees magnetic at 10 knots with no gusts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N364MA
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8007
- Airframe hours
- 4,096.7
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Langa Air Services
- Registered owner
- BLP Investments, LTD.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 1, 2006
- Departed
- ALN · Alton, IL
- Destination
- ALN · Alton, IL
- Airport
- ALN · St. Louis Regional Airport, runway 17, 6,500 × 100 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
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 40 total · 40 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- ALN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.