# NTSB ERA20CA318: Cessna 172, N19813, Wilmington, DE, September 7, 2020

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Data collection · Final report
- Date: September 7, 2020, 15:42 local (19:42 UTC)
- Place: Wilmington, DE
- Coordinates: 39.67652, -75.603042 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=39.6765&lon=-75.6030&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- 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
- NTSB case key (mKey): 101970
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA20CA318
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/101970/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=101970
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA20CA318

## Probable cause

The student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard bounced landing.

## Findings

NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause.

- [Performance/control parameters: landing flare](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained; cases with it: [Cessna 172M, 37 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041/cases.md?model=2072418), [All aircraft, 1,285 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041/cases.md)
- [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot; cases with it: [Cessna 172M, 123 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2072418), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Landing: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 172M, 23 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md?model=2072418), [All aircraft, 2,102 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md)

## Analysis

The student pilot was conducting his first solo cross country flight. During the landing flare at the destination airport, he reduced engine power, and the airplane touched down “firmly” then bounced back into the air. It bounced 3 to 4 more times before it came to rest on the runway. The pilot also stated that “each bounce and touch down were worse …. than the previous.” Subsequently, he taxied the airplane to a hangar and egressed without issue. After the accident, an examination of the airframe found that the fuselage was substantially damaged. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N19813](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N19813), registered now, S/N 17260776 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: Cessna 172 (M)
- Registry model: [Cessna 172M](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172m) (registry code 2072418) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 17260776
- Year built: 1972
- Airframe hours: 6710.7
- Engines: Lycoming O-360-A4M 180 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Instructional, Part 91
- Operator: Boeing Employees Flying Assn Inc
- Registered owner: Boeing Employees Flying Assn Inc
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, January 29, 2020
- Departed: WWD, Wilwood, NJ
- Destination: Same as departure
- Airport: ILG, New Castle Airport, runway 19, 7,012 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment: Satellite tracking device, ADS-B, Stall warning system

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 29; injuries: none; student; medical: class 1; seat: left; flight hours: 74 total, 61 in this make and model, 5 as pilot in command, 29 in the last 90 days, 11 in the last 30 days

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 150° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 81 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter: 30.17 inHg
- Observed at: ILG

## Docket (2 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 9, 2021, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=101970. 6.9 MB in all.

- Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 11 pages, 5.9 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=11418854&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=CA318%206120_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Investigative photographs (item 2, PDF, 2 pages, 936 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=11419361&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Photo%20Array%20CA318-Rel.pdf

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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