- Date
- June 4, 2010, 18:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- Baltimore, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N789EPCessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100604005539A
- Case key
- 76262
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, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s improper decision to land during a thunderstorm.
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, he was cleared to land on runway 33 and advised of approaching weather. During the approach, the airplane encountered heavy rain, moderate turbulence, strong crosswinds, and a “sudden downdraft and crosswind” that resulted in a “very hard” landing. The airplane became “unstable,” and began to bounce down the runway. The pilot aborted the landing and returned to land on runway 15. The airplane landed hard once again, and again bounced several times down the runway. During a turn on the runway, the pilot noted a flat nose tire and requested assistance for a tow. A subsequent examination of the airplane revealed a propeller strike and substantial damage to the firewall, as well as wrinkling of the lower fuselage. An aviation routine weather report for the airport, about the time of the accident, included winds from 150 degrees true at 7 knots, and thunderstorms in the vicinity. The director of operations where the airplane was based on the airport, and one of the line service personnel who towed the airplane after the accident, confirmed that there had been a passing thunderstorm at the time of the accident. The pilot was not sure which of the hard landings resulted in the damage to the airplane.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he was cleared to land on runway 33 and advised of approaching weather. During the approach, the airplane encountered heavy rain, moderate turbulence, strong crosswinds, and a “sudden downdraft and crosswind” that resulted in a “very hard” landing. The airplane became “unstable,” and began to bounce down the runway. The pilot aborted the landing and returned to land on runway 15. The airplane landed hard once again, and again bounced several times down the runway. During a turn on the runway, the pilot noted a flat nose tire and requested assistance for a tow. A subsequent examination of the airplane revealed a propeller strike and substantial damage to the firewall, as well as wrinkling of the lower fuselage. An aviation routine weather report for the airport, about the time of the accident, included winds from 150 degrees true at 7 knots, and thunderstorms in the vicinity. The director of operations where the airplane was based on the airport, and one of the line service personnel who towed the airplane after the accident, confirmed that there had been a passing thunderstorm at the time of the accident. The pilot was not sure which of the hard landings resulted in the damage to the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N789EP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8135
- Airframe hours
- 3,462
- Engine
- Lycoming I0360-L2A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Brett Aviation
- Registered owner
- Dream Flight LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 6, 2010
- Departed
- ESN · Easton/Newnam F, MD
- Destination
- MTN · Baltimore, MD
- Airport
- MTN · Martin State Airport, runway 15, 6,996 × 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 10, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 156 total · 45 in this make and model · 47 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 150° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.80 inHg
- Observed at
- MTN
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 14, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 980 KB in all.
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 N789EP · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.