- Date
- September 3, 2012, 11:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Sebring, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9965PCessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 11, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FSS/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120903021459A
- Case key
- 85021
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, which resulted in a hard 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
The student pilot reported that during a solo flight, just prior to touchdown, he flared the airplane too high above the runway. The airplane touched down hard and bounced; however, the student pilot was able to complete the landing and did not notice any anomalies at that time. He subsequently performed another takeoff and landing uneventfully. At the conclusion of his last flight of the day, the student pilot noticed damage to the airplane. The student pilot added that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the hard landing. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall and lower fuselage.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that during a solo flight, just prior to touchdown, he flared the airplane too high above the runway. The airplane touched down hard and bounced; however, the student pilot was able to complete the landing and did not notice any anomalies at that time. He subsequently performed another takeoff and landing uneventfully. At the conclusion of his last flight of the day, the student pilot noticed damage to the airplane. The student pilot added that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the hard landing. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed damage to the firewall and lower fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9965P
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S10822
- Airframe hours
- 2,405
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Tailwheels Etc.
- Registered owner
- Oak Ridge Flight Services LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 12, 2012 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- LAL · Lakeland, FL
- Destination
- SEF · Sebring, FL
- Airport
- SEF · Sebring Regional Airport, runway 36, 5,234 × 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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 60 total · 60 in this make and model · 6 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- OBE, 15 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 19, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.5 MB 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.