ERA13CA395

NTSB accident investigation · Cessna 172S · Fort Lauderdale, FL · August 29, 2013

Accident · No injuriesData collectionFinal report
Date
August 29, 2013, 19:08 local (23:08 UTC)
Place
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Injuries
1 uninjured
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Landing
Aircraft
N6065PCessna 172S
Defining event
Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report October 21, 2013
Report
Approved by Office Director
NTSB office
Eastern Region Aviation
Parties
FAA/FSDO
FAA report
20130829018649A
Case key
87961

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 failure to apply power to go-around following a bounced landing resulting in abnormal runway contact and collapse of the nose landing gear.

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.

Personnel issuesPersonnel issues › Action/decision · Student/instructed pilotCessna 172S: 1 caseAll aircraft: 56 casesProbable cause

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 had flown with her instructor earlier that day and successfully performed about 5 takeoff’s and landings which included 1 go-around. She was then signed off for her first solo flight, and instructed to perform full stop taxi back landings. The student pilot stated that the flight departed and remained in the traffic pattern where on final approach she recognized the airplane was low. She applied power to level off, and noticed the airspeed was increasing so she, “…jerked the control stick.” The airplane contacted the runway, bounced, where she applied aft control, and was about to apply power but the airplane contacted the runway again causing the nose landing gear to collapse. The student pilot’s certified flight instructor who was watching and listening on a portable VHF transceiver reported observing the airplane bounce twice, and the second bounce was higher than the first. He then lost sight of the airplane and heard the student pilot’s voice on the radio, followed by a comment from the controller that help was on the way. The operator reported there was no mechanical failure or malfunction, and postaccident inspection of the flight controls by a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction.

Factual narrative

The student pilot had flown with her instructor earlier that day and successfully performed about 5 takeoff’s and landings which included 1 go-around. She was then signed off for her first solo flight, and instructed to perform full stop taxi back landings. The student pilot stated that the flight departed and remained in the traffic pattern where on final approach she recognized the airplane was low. She applied power to level off, and noticed the airspeed was increasing so she, “…jerked the control stick.” The airplane contacted the runway, bounced, where she applied aft control, and was about to apply power but the airplane contacted the runway again causing the nose landing gear to collapse.The student pilot’s certified flight instructor who was watching and listening on a portable VHF transceiver reported observing the airplane bounce twice, and the second bounce was higher than the first. He then lost sight of the airplane and heard the student pilot’s voice on the radio, followed by a comment from the controller that help was on the way. The operator reported there was no mechanical failure or malfunction, and postaccident inspection of the flight controls by a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction.

Aircraft

Registration
N6065P
Reported as
Cessna 172S
Category
Airplane
Serial number
172S10253
Airframe hours
2,498
Engine
Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Instructional · Part 91
Operator
Airborne Systems, Inc., doing business as Airborne Systems
Registered owner
S R Liner LLC
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
Last inspection
100 hour · July 8, 2013
Departed
FXE · Fort Lauderdale, FL
Destination
FXE · Fort Lauderdale, FL
Airport
FXE · Fort Lauderdale Executive, runway 13, 4,000 × 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
32
Injuries
None
Certificate
Student
Medical
Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
Seat
Left
Flight hours
74 total · 74 in this make and model

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
120° at 8 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
84 °F, dew point 73 °F
Altimeter
29.94 inHg
Observed at
FXE

Docket · 6

The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 19, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.0 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.