- Date
- July 8, 2022, 15:35 local (19:35 UTC)
- Place
- South Portland, ME
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9946QCessna 172M
- 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
- FAA report
- 20220708011949A
- Case key
- 105440
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, which resulted in a hard landing. Also causal was the flight instructor’s inadequate remedial action.
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
The student pilot had previously accumulated about 40 total hours of flight experience, but the accident flight with the flight instructor was his first after having not flown for about six years. During the first approach to landing, the flight instructor directed the student to perform a touch-and-go landing. The student pilot stated that he felt “nervous” given the amount of time that had elapsed since he had last flown. The student thought that he subsequently landed the airplane hard and recalled hearing the sound of “crunching metal.” His next recollection was waking up on the runway as the airplane caught fire. The student pilot and the flight instructor were seriously injured and the airplane’s fuselage was substantially damaged during the landing and subsequent postimpact fire. Despite several attempts to contact him, the flight instructor could not be reached following the accident and did not provide a statement about the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9946Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17265890
- Built
- 1975
- Engine
- Unknown, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Portland Flight Services
- Registered owner
- Horizon Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- PWM · Portland Intl Jetport, runway 18, 6,100 × 150 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 56
- Injuries
- Serious
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 9,800 total · 99,999 in this make and model
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 70
- Injuries
- Serious
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 40 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- KPWM
- METAR
- KPWM 081951Z 17007KT 10SM FEW095 24/16 A2989 RMK AO2 SLP120 T02440156
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 24, 2022, 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.
Other investigations on N9946Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.