- Date
- September 16, 2015, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Herington, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N909HCCessna 172N
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA Wichita FSDO
- FAA report
- 20150916015889A
- Case key
- 92050
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 failure to maintain pitch control during the landing roll, which resulted in a porpoise.
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 pilot reported that during the landing roll, "all of a sudden the plane started ballooning up from a strong gust of wind, I lowered the nose of the airplane slightly as to avoid a stall." He reported that, "I was then forced back to the ground violently and once again ballooned up" and that the airplane, "ballooned up and was forced down 5 times." Once the porpoising ceased, the pilot taxied off the runway without further incident. A post flight inspection revealed substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage, the firewall, and the floor boards underneath the rudder pedals. The pilot reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the landing roll, "all of a sudden the plane started ballooning up from a strong gust of wind, I lowered the nose of the airplane slightly as to avoid a stall." He reported that, "I was then forced back to the ground violently and once again ballooned up" and that the airplane, "ballooned up and was forced down 5 times." Once the porpoising ceased, the pilot taxied off the runway without further incident. A post flight inspection revealed substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage, the firewall, and the floor boards underneath the rudder pedals. The pilot reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N909HC
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N (N)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270803
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 16,116.4
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hesston College
- Registered owner
- Hesston College
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 31, 2015
- Departed
- LWC · Lawrence, KS
- Destination
- HRU · Herington, KS
- Airport
- HRU · Herington Rgnl, runway 17, 4,184 × 75 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 30
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 5, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 116 total · 86 in this make and model · 74 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 19 knots, gusting 26
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- KFRI, 21 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 30, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.1 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.