- Date
- January 9, 2025, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mayfield, KY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4942GCessna 172N
- 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
- 20250109001629A
- Case key
- 199580
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 and nose landing gear collapse.
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 his second landing, the airplane ballooned and landed hard on the runway. As a result, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the fuselage impacted the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4942G
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273489
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 12,031.8
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kickstart Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 31, 2024 · 3.7 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- M25 · Mayfield Graves County Airport, runway 19, 5,002 × 100 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
- 40
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 8, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 24.7 total · 24.7 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 16 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.34 inHg
- Observed at
- KCEY, 12 nm away
- METAR
- KCEY 090935Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR M09/M09 A3034 RMK A01
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 22, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 14.5 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.