# NTSB ERA25LA101: Cessna 172N, N4942G, Mayfield, KY, January 9, 2025

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report
- Date: January 9, 2025, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place: Mayfield, KY
- Coordinates: 36.773324, -88.584456 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.7733&lon=-88.5845&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing-flare/touchdown: 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): 199580
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA25LA101
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/199580/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199580
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA101

## Probable cause

The student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing and nose landing gear collapse.

## 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 (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 38 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041/cases.md?model=2072434), [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 · Student/instructed pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 150 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2072434), [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-flare/touchdown: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 46 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md?model=2072434), [All aircraft, 2,102 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md)
- [Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear collapse](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 10 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md?model=2072434), [All aircraft, 1,787 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md)

## 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](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N4942G-2025-05-08), registration cancelled 2025-05-08, S/N 17273489, built 1979 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 172N
- Registry model: [Cessna 172N](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172n) (registry code 2072434) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 17273489
- Year built: 1979
- Airframe hours: 12031.8
- Engines: 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

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 40; injuries: none; 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

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20250109001629A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250109001629A), Jan 9, 2025: Cessna 172N, Mayfield, KY, Substantial damage. On 01/09/2025, a Cessna 172 registered as[privacy data omitted] was substantially damaged due to a hard landing. The pilot, a student pilot, was on his initial…

## Docket (2 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 22, 2025, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199580. 14.5 MB in all.

- Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 10 pages, 13.9 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18498907&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=NTSB%206120%201%20Form_Redacted-Rel.pdf
- Investigation photographs (item 2, PDF, 3 pages, 570 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=18499444&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Photo%20Array-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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