- Date
- October 29, 1994, 10:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Colorado Spgs, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N52521Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 26, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 19298
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 improper landing flare, the resultant porpoise and an inadequate recovery from the bounced landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The solo student pilot performed a series of touch and goes. During the final landing flare/touchdown the airplane ballooned and then touched down on the runway. The nose tire blew out and the airplane departed the right side of the runway, hit a ditch, and came to rest nose down.
Factual narrative
On October 29, 1994, at 1030 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N52521, was substantially damaged during landing near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The solo student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight.
The pilot reported performing a series of takeoffs and landings on runway 17 at Colorado Springs Airport. During the final landing, the airplane "ballooned" after touching down on the main landing gear. The airplane touched down again on "all three wheels simultaneously." The nose tire blew, the aircraft departed the right side of the runway and hit a small ditch before coming to rest nose down. Damage occurred to the firewall and lower fuselage area aft of the firewall.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N52521
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172P74547
- Airframe hours
- 6,988
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Johnson & Johnson Ed Sys Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 19, 1994 · 31 hours before
- Airport
- COS · Colorado Spgs, runway 17R, 10,600 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 24
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 54 total · 2 in this make and model · 7 as pilot in command · 54 in the last 90 days · 37 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- COS