- Date
- May 28, 2015, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Beaver Falls, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N984WUCessna 172R
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150528018949A
- Case key
- 91352
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 failure to maintain airplane attitude control during the landing, resulting in a hard landing.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot reported that upon the conclusion of his cross-country solo flight, the airplane landed hard and the nose wheel tire lost pressure. A post-accident inspection revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The student pilot reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that upon the conclusion of his cross-country solo flight, the airplane landed hard and the nose wheel tire lost pressure. A post-accident inspection revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The student pilot reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N984WU
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R (R)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17280510
- Built
- 1998
- Airframe hours
- 9,224.1
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Moore Aviation Inc
- Registered owner
- Moore Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 21, 2015 · 608 hours before
- Departed
- GKJ · Meadville, PA
- Destination
- BVI · Beaver Falls, PA
- Airport
- BVI · Beaver County, runway 10, 4,501 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 20
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 36 total · 36 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- KBVI
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.