- Date
- November 10, 2008, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Gulf Shores, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N172PACessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO, Federal Aviation Administration - Inspector
- FAA report
- 20081110856609A
- Case key
- 69456
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 flare during landing.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the pilot of the Cessna 172N, while completing touch-and-go landings, the airplane bounced on the first landing. She took off again and completed another "loop" in the pattern. The pilot returned to land at the airport a second time, which was "very smooth." She taxied the airplane back to the hangar, shut down the engine, exited the airplane, and saw the propeller was bent a "small amount." The pilot was unaware of the propeller strike; she did not hear or see anything abnormal during the second takeoff and landing. An examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed wrinkling of the lower firewall and fuselage skin, and both propeller blades bent aft, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot of the Cessna 172N, while completing touch and go landings, the airplane bounced on the first landing. She took off again and completed another "loop" in the pattern. The pilot returned to land at the airport a second time, which was "very smooth." She taxied the airplane back to the hangar, shut down the engine, exited the airplane, and saw the propeller was bent a "small amount." The pilot was unaware of the propeller strike; she did not hear or see anything abnormal during the second takeoff and landing. An examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed wrinkling of the lower firewall and fuselage skin, and both propeller blades bent aft; resulting in substantial damage to the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N172PA
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (N)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17269467
- Engine
- Porsche PFM3200N03, 217 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- JKA · Gulf Shores, AL
- Destination
- JKA · Gulf Shores, AL
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- JKA · Jack Edwards Airport, runway 27, 6,962 × 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 12, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 107 total · 98 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- BFM, 31 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.