- Date
- October 20, 2001, 21:45 local (Oct 21, 2001, 03:45 UTC)
- Place
- Provo, UT
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5552ECessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report December 6, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federaql Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20011020029679A
- Case key
- 53674
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing. Contributing factors were the pilot's lack of total experience in aircraft, and the pilot's lack of recent experience in kind of aircraft.
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
A witness said that he saw the airplane land with a loud "crunching sound." He said the airplane oscillated several times before rolling out to the end of the runway 31. The pilot said that the airplane landed with what seemed a normal bounce, but bounced a second time which seemed harder. He said that after tying the airplane down, he looked for damage, but could not see any due to the dark night light conditions. Postaccident examination revealed that the firewall was bent, stringers in the fuselage underside were bent, the control yoke would not move, and attachment bolts were broken in the nose gear. The pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had approximately 63 hours of total flight experience. He had flown approximately 13 hours during the last 44 months, and he had a flight review endorsement dated June 5, 2001. The pilot had not flown in the previous 4 and 1/2 months prior to the accident flight.
Factual narrative
On October 20, 2001, approximately 2145 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N5552E, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Provo Municipal Airport (PVU), Provo, Utah. The pilot and his passengers were not injured. Advantage Aviation of Provo, Utah, was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal, night, local flight that originated approximately 1.4 hours before the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan.
A witness said that he saw the airplane land with a loud "crunching sound." He said the airplane oscillated several times before rolling out to the end of the runway 31. The pilot said that the airplane landed with what seemed a normal bounce, but bounced a second time which seemed harder. He said that after tying the airplane down, he looked for damage, but could not see any due to the dark night light conditions. Postaccident examination revealed that the firewall was bent, stringers in the fuselage underside were bent, the control yoke would not move, and attachment bolts were broken in the nose gear.
The pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had approximately 63 hours of total flight experience. He had flown approximately 13 hours during the last 44 months, and he had a flight review endorsement dated June 5, 2001. The pilot had not flown in the previous 4 and 1/2 months prior to the accident flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5552E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17271887
- Airframe hours
- 7,100
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Utah Valley Aviation, doing business as Advantage Aviation
- Registered owner
- Smith & Barlow Enterprises, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 17, 2001 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- PVU · Provo, UT
- Airport
- PVU · Provo Municipal Airport, runway 31, 8,599 × 150 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Last flight review
- June 5, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 63 total · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 150° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- PVU
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N5552E · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.