- Date
- April 7, 1990, 11:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ogallala, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N64739Cessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900407009069A
- Case key
- 17916
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 misjudged landing flare. A factor was the pilot's lack of experience.
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 was landing at a fuel stop during a solo cross country flight. He said that the plane fell the last five feet to the runway, resulting in a hard landing. He visually inspected the plane, found no apparent damage, refueled and flew back to his home base. A postflight inspection by the operator revealed substantial damage; the firewall and propeller were bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64739
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275616
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- G.L. Smith
- Departed
- A1A · Alliance, NE
- Airport
- OGA · Searle, runway 31, 3,700 × 50 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
- 75
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 50 total · 50 in this make and model · 15 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 17 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.