- Date
- May 22, 2014, 21:15 local (May 23, 2014, 01:15 UTC)
- Place
- Harrisburg, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N193MECessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- FAA report
- 20140522008379A
- Case key
- 89332
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 failure to compensate for wind conditions during landing, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 3
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 pilot stated that he was returning to his home airport at the conclusion of a local flight, and that he aborted the first landing attempt due to turbulence and wind gusts. Following a second approach for landing, the airplane encountered a "gust of wind" from the left during the landing flare. The airplane banked right, and the nose landing gear subsequently contacted the runway "hard." Postaccident inspection revealed that the propeller had struck the runway during landing, and further examination revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he was returning to his home airport at the conclusion of a local flight, and that he aborted the first landing attempt due to turbulence and wind gusts. Following a second approach for landing, the airplane encountered a "gust of wind" from the left during the landing flare. The airplane banked right, and the nose landing gear subsequently contacted the runway "hard." Postaccident inspection revealed that the propeller had struck the runway during landing, and further examination revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N193ME
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8458
- Built
- 2000
- Airframe hours
- 1,608
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360 SER, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sky Blue Aviation LLC
- Registered owner
- Sky Blue Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · May 9, 2014
- Departed
- P34 · Mifflintown, PA
- Destination
- CXY · Harrisburg, PA
- Airport
- CXY · Capital City Airport, runway 8, 5,001 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 27, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 198 total · 180 in this make and model · 198 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- CXY
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 2, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 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.