- Date
- November 9, 2005, 13:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Arlington, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5437JCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20051109030209A
- Case key
- 62826
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 students improper recovery from a bounced landing. A contributing factor was the pilots excessive airspeed on final approach.
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 47-hour student pilot was on her first supervised solo flight. While on the downwind leg for Runway 16, she observed another aircraft ahead on downwind. The student pilot elected to extend her downwind to provide additional spacing with the other aircraft in the traffic pattern. The pilot reported that while on final approach she noted she was too high and the airspeed was excessive. The airplane porpoised after initial touchdown. The pilot compensated by pushing the nose forward causing the airplane to land hard on the nose wheel. The nose strut impacted the runway with enough force to cause structural damage to the engine firewall. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunction prior to the mishap. The winds at the time of the accident were reported as variable at 4 knots.
Factual narrative
The 47-hour student pilot was on her first supervised solo flight. While on the downwind leg for Runway 16, she observed another aircraft ahead on downwind. The student pilot elected to extend her downwind to provide additional spacing with the other aircraft in the traffic pattern. The pilot reported that while on final approach she noted she was too high and the airspeed was excessive. The airplane encountered porpoise after initial touchdown. The pilot compensated by pushing the nose forward causing the airplane to land hard on the nose wheel. The nose strut impacted the runway with enough force to cause structural damage to the engine firewall. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunction prior to the mishap. The winds at the time of the accident were reported as variable at 4 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5437J
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273794
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Delta Aeronautics Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- GKY · Arlington, TX
- Destination
- Arlington, TX
- Airport
- GKY · Arlington Municipal Airport, runway 16, 6,080 × 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
- 19
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 47 total · 47 in this make and model · 45 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.