- Date
- December 24, 2013, 15:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N17223Cessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20131224024789A
- Case key
- 88589
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 a gusty, crosswind landing.
Findings · 4
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, the airplane was approaching the runway with 20-degrees flaps. Winds reported about that time were 50 degrees from the right at 9, gusting to 17 knots. The pilot crabbed the airplane into the wind until about 50 feet above the runway, when he straightened the nose with left rudder and right aileron. The pilot then felt a gust of wind under the right wing, and corrected to maintain wings level. The right main landing gear touched down first, followed by a nose landing gear collapse with damage to the engine firewall. The pilot did not report any preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, the airplane was approaching the runway with 20-degrees flaps. Winds reported about that time were 50 degrees from the right at 9, gusting to 17 knots. The pilot crabbed the airplane into the wind until about 50 feet above the runway, when he straightened the nose with left rudder and right aileron. The pilot then felt a gust of wind under the right wing, and corrected to maintain wings level. The right main landing gear touched down first, followed by a nose landing gear collapse with damage to the engine firewall. The pilot did not report any preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N17223
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S10635
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 2,314
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Paragon Flight Training Co.
- Registered owner
- Paragon Airplance Leasing Co
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 10, 2013 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- FMY · Fort Myers, FL
- Destination
- OPF · Miami, FL
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- OPF · Opa Locka Executive, runway 30, 6,800 × 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
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 7 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 9 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- OPF
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 11, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 224 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.