- Date
- July 1, 2020, 09:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chesapeake, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9391HCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200701005319A
- Case key
- 101522
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 and failure to recover from the ensuing bounced landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.
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 he performed practice maneuvers over a field for about 20 minutes before returning to the airport to practice landings. After becoming established on final approach, the airplane touched down "on the numbers," then proceeded to bounce with ever increasing frequency and severity. The airplane departed the runway surface, the nosewheel landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that he performed practice maneuvers over a field for about 20 minutes before returning to the airport to practice landings. After becoming established on final approach, the airplane touched down "on the numbers," then proceeded to bounce with ever increasing frequency and severity. The airplane departed the runway surface, the nosewheel landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9391H
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (M)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17266134
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 9,626.9
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Epix Services LLC, doing business as Epix Aviation
- Registered owner
- Sunrise Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 17, 2020 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- CPK · Chesapeake, VA
- Destination
- CPK · Chesapeake, VA
- Airport
- CPK · Chesapeake Rgnl, runway 23, 5,500 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 18
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 32.5 total · 32.5 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- CPK, 1 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 10, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.
Other investigations on N9391H · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.