- Date
- April 26, 1996, 08:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Denton, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5215KCessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960426009189A
- Case key
- 19822
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 delayed landing flare and his improper bounced landing recovery technique.
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
During his second solo flight, the student pilot made a bounced landing, and the airplane porpoised. The propeller struck the pavement and the firewall sustained damage.
Factual narrative
On April 26, 1996, approximately 0830 central daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N5215K, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at the Denton Municipal Airport, Denton, Texas. The student pilot was not injured. The airplane was rented from Centerline Aviation, Inc., by the pilot for the instructional flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed. The local supervised solo flight departed Denton approximately 5 minutes before the accident.
According to the student, after completing three landings with the flight instructor on board, he departed on his second solo flight. At the completion of his first circuit of the traffic pattern, the student "made a bounced landing" and the airplane "porpoised." The propeller struck the pavement and the firewall sustained damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5215K
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17274015
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Centerline Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Richard L. Kummer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Departed
- DTO
- Airport
- DTO · Denton Municipal, runway 35, 5,000 × 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 101 total · 49 in this make and model · 35 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.