- Date
- July 19, 2020, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wellington, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1655VCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- 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
- 20200719010099A
- Case key
- 101624
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 inadequate compensation for a wind gust during 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
During a local flight, the pilot reported that the wind at the airport was light and variable. After flying a normal traffic pattern, she crossed the runway threshold on final approach and reduced the power to land. Upon touchdown, the airplane “was hit by a strong gust of wind.” The airplane then pitched up to a “very high nose up attitude.” The stall warning horn activated and the pilot attempted to recover; however, the airplane impacted the runway in a nose low attitude, seriously injuring the pilot and substantially damaging to the forward portion of the airplane’s fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1655V
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (M)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17263704
- Built
- 1974
- Airframe hours
- 3,824
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 11, 2020
- Departed
- FD38 · Wellington, FL
- Destination
- FD38 · Wellington, FL
- Airport
- FD38 · Wellington Aero Club A/P, runway 16, 4,055 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 36
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 27, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 72 total · 72 in this make and model · 30 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 77 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KPBI, 11 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 12, 2021, 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.