- Date
- February 8, 2021, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Orange, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N841SPCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing: 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
- 20210208000719A
- Case key
- 102621
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 recovery from a bounced landing.
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 solo student pilot reported that during landing while on a cross country flight, the airplane was high and fast on final approach. The approach was continued and after the first touchdown the airplane “ballooned back up only to porpoise.” After the multiple touchdowns, the student pilot was able to stop the airplane near the midpoint of the runway, where the airplane was shut down and towed to the ramp. Examination of the airplane revealed that the bounced landing resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N841SP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8746
- Built
- 2001
- Airframe hours
- 4,962
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Randolph Macon Academy
- Registered owner
- Randolph Macon Academy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 8, 2020
- Departed
- FVX · Farmville, VA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- OMH · Orange County, runway 08/26, 3,200 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device
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
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 68 total · 61 in this make and model · 7 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 12 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.45 inHg
- Observed at
- KOMH
- METAR
- METAR KOMH 081615Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 00/M11 A3045 RMK AO2=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 15, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.5 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.