- Date
- October 7, 2004, 13:35 local (19:35 UTC)
- Place
- Casper, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N73764Cessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20041007023009A
- Case key
- 60310
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 flare resulting in a hard landing. A factor contributing to the accident was the student pilot's improper recovery from the bounced landing.
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 solo student pilot was performing her fourth touch-and-go landing when she allowed the airplane to touchdown hard on the runway. The pilot said everything was fine until she got into the flare. She said that she felt she was going to float so she "put in some power." She said she felt she had things under control, so she reduced the throttle to idle. When the airplane touched down, it bounced. The pilot said she released a little back pressure. "The second time it [the airplane] came back to the ground, it bounced hard, and this time I think the propeller hit. It bounced hard 3 or 4 times after that. Back and forth." The pilot said she finally got the airplane stopped. She contacted the tower and received permission to taxi back to the ramp. An inspection of the airplane showed substantial damage to the firewall, and minor damage to the nose gear and propeller. No other anomalies were found.
Factual narrative
On October 7, 2004, at approximately 1335 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N73764, piloted by a solo student pilot, was substantially damaged when it made a hard landing at the Natrona County International Airport (CPR), Casper, Wyoming. Visual meteorological condition prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated at CPR at 1300.
The student pilot was performing her fourth touch-and-go landing on runway 21 (10,600 feet by 150 feet, dry asphalt), when she allowed the airplane to touch down hard on the runway. The pilot said everything was fine until she got into the flare. She said that she felt she was going to float so she "put in some power." She said she felt she had things under control, so she reduced the throttle to idle. When the airplane touched down, it bounced. The pilot said she released a little back pressure. "The second time it [the airplane] came back to the ground, it bounced hard, and this time I think the propeller hit. It bounced hard 3 or 4 times after that. Back and forth." The pilot said she finally got the airplane stopped. She contacted the tower and received permission to taxi back to the ramp.
An inspection of the airplane revealed that the airplane's nose gear was bent aft and the firewall was buckled in several places. One propeller blade was bent aft at the tip.
The student pilot's instructor reported the pilot was an average to medium skilled student. The student pilot had soloed two times previously.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N73764
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17267661
- Airframe hours
- 7,693.3
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Wyoming Air Corporation, doing business as Wyoming Air
- Registered owner
- Beecher J. Strube
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 1, 2004 · 41.2 hours before
- Departed
- CPR · Casper, WY
- Airport
- CPR · Natrona International, runway 21, 10,600 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 59 total · 59 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- CPR, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.