- Date
- June 14, 1996, 10:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Watkins, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3814VCessna R172K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 19, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960614014169A
- Case key
- 19869
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
an improper flare by the pilot, which resulted in a hard 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 student pilot had a total flight time of about 87 hours. About 17 hours of this flight time was in a Cessna R172K, all of which was dual flight time. On 6/14/96, the student took off on his first solo flight in the Cessna R172K. During his first solo landing in the R172K, the airplane landed hard and was damaged.
Factual narrative
On June 14, 1996, at 1000 mountain daylight time a Cessna R172K, N3814V, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing at Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado. The solo student pilot was not injured. The flight was operating as a local area instructional flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. Takeoff for the flight occurred at 0915.
According to the student, who was on his first solo flight in the Cessna R172K aircraft, he became distracted by a radio call from another aircraft. He said his landing was hard, but he did not realize he had damaged the aircraft until he parked at the ramp and the flight instructor noticed the propeller tips missing. Other damage was to the fire wall, cabin floor, nose landing gear assembly, and flight control system. This was the pilot's first solo landing in this make and model aircraft.
Weather at the time, as estimated by the pilot, was clear skies with wind from 300 degrees magnetic at 4 knots. The landing was conducted on runway 35.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3814V
- Reported as
- Cessna R172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R1722264
- Airframe hours
- 3,875
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-K, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aurora Aircraft, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 25, 1996
- Departed
- FTG
- Airport
- FTG · Front Range, runway 35, 8,000 × 100 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
- 73
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 87 total · 17 in this make and model · 5 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
- Observed at
- FTG, 2 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.