- Date
- October 4, 2022, 06:45 local (10:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sanford, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N455ERCessna 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
- 20221004018909A
- Case key
- 106116
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 unstable approach, which resulted in a hard landing and impact with a runway threshold light. Also causal was the flight instructor’s failure to take remedial action to prevent the hard 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
The pilot under instruction was flying a practice power-off 180° maneuver from the downwind leg at the accident airport. The flight instructor stated that on final approach the airplane’s airspeed was slow and the flight path was low. He stated that since the purpose of the flight was to evaluate student’s piloting skills, he allowed the approach to proceed and did not tell the student to add power or go around. The airplane landed firmly at the runway threshold and the horizontal stabilizer impacted a runway threshold light. Postaccident examination revealed that the horizontal stabilizer sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that a go-around maneuver should have been initiated when the approach became unstable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N455ER
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S11591
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 6,662.1
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc
- Registered owner
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 9, 2022 · 75.5 hours before
- Departed
- DAB · Daytona Beach, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- SFB · Orlando Sanford Intl, runway 27R, 11,002 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Stall warning system
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
- Pilot
- Age
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 14, 2022
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 912 total · 893 in this make and model · 824 as pilot in command · 144 in the last 90 days · 52 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- Unknown
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 25, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 167 total · 167 in this make and model · 84 as pilot in command · 49 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- SFB
- METAR
- KSFB 041053Z 33006KT 10SM CLR 18/16 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP150 T01780161
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 7, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.8 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.