- Date
- August 13, 2007, 10:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Collins, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N249FSCessna 172R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20070813018979A
- Case key
- 66630
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 and recovery from a 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 student pilot reported that the airplane "bounced" twice on his first attempt to land and he executed a go-around. The second attempt at landing was successful, and while taxiing the airplane to park, the student pilot "found that I could not steer the airplane using the left rudder pedal." Examination of the airplane revealed the firewall was buckled and bent.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot, the solo instructional flight departed from the local airport and he practiced basic flight maneuvers for approximately 1/2 hour in the local area. During the approach for landing, the airplane "was a bit low, so I added power, pushed the nose down and got back on the glide-slope. I touched down; there was a bounce, I added a little power to recover. There was a slight bounce again and this time I decided to add full power and do a go-around." Upon landing after the go-around, the student pilot "found that I could not steer using the left-rudder pedal." The student pilot then taxied the airplane to the ramp by utilizing the brakes. Examination of the airplane revealed the firewall was buckled and bent. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. The accident was reported to the NTSB on September 6, 2007.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N249FS
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17281249
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Colorado Contrails Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- FNL · Fort Collins, CO
- Destination
- FNL · Fort Collins, CO
- Airport
- FNL · Fort Collins-Loveland Municipa, runway 33
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
- Flight hours
- 68 total · 56 in this make and model · 27 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
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 N249FS · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.