- Date
- August 18, 1997, 06:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rock Springs, WY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7518MCessna 175
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 2, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970818025859A
- Case key
- 20319
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 delayed landing flare by both student pilot and flight instructor, and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the student. Factors were the no flap steep approach at low airspeed.
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 was practicing touch and go landings with an instructor. He made a no-flap, steep landing approach at low airspeed. He was slow in flaring the airplane. The instructor took control, but not before the airplane made a hard landing.
Factual narrative
On August 18, 1997, approximately 0630 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 175, N7518M, was substantially damaged during landing at Rock Springs, Wyoming. The commercial rated-flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Rock Springs approximately 0610.
In a telephone interview, the pilot said he had been having trouble with landings, and he asked the instructor to give him additional dual instruction. They were practicing touch and go landings. The first landing went without incident. The second landing was to be a no-flap landing. The pilot said his approach was "steep and slow." He was slow in flaring the airplane, and the instructor took control but not before the airplane made a hard landing.
In his accident report, the pilot said he reduced power at 500 feet agl (above ground level) when it appeared the landing was assured. Approximately 30 feet agl, the instructor applied full power "to compensate for steep approach and no flare." As the airplane responded to the power increase, the pilot abruptly initiated a flare and entered an accelerated stall. The airplane contacted the ground at a steep angle, bounced, touched down again, and made a "normal" landing roll.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. aircraft damage consisted of a bent right main landing gear, buckled nose landing gear, and firewall damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7518M
- Reported as
- Cessna 175
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 55818
- Airframe hours
- 2,760
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wayne Yedinak/Pam Willey
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 6, 1997 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- RKS
- Destination
- RKS
- Airport
- RKS · Rock Springs-Sweetwater, runway 21, 5,223 × 75 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
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,437 total · 29 in this make and model · 1,310 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RKS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.