- Date
- July 17, 2014, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hagerstown, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N97528Cessna 172P
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 2, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- FAA report
- 20140717011979A
- Case key
- 89730
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 landing flare.
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 was conducting her first solo flight, and stated that during the first landing, all three of the landing gear contacted the runway simultaneously, and the airplane began to porpoise. She aborted the landing and noted that the engine sounded "slightly rougher and much louder" during the climb-out. She also noted that the airplane "struggled" to climb to traffic pattern altitude. The second approach and landing was uneventful, and after disembarking the airplane, damage was noted to the propeller. Further examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector 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 student pilot was conducting her first solo flight, and stated that during the first landing, all three of the landing gear contacted the runway simultaneously, and the airplane began to porpoise. She aborted the landing and noted that the engine sounded "slightly rougher and much louder" during the climb-out. She also noted that the airplane "struggled" to climb to traffic pattern altitude. The second approach and landing was uneventful, and after disembarking the airplane, damage was noted to the propeller. Further examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector 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
- N97528
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17276308
- Built
- 1985
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-320 SERIES, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Civil Air Patrol Inc
- Registered owner
- Civil Air Patrol Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 23, 2014 · 4,822 hours before
- Departed
- HGR · Hagerstown, MD
- Destination
- HGR · Hagerstown, MD
- Airport
- HGR · Hagerstown Regional Airport, runway 27, 7,000 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 17
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 12 total · 12 in this make and model · 0.2 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- HGR
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 14, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 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.