- Date
- November 16, 2015, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Westminster, MD
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N26499Cessna 172R
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 14, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA Baltimore FSDO
- FAA report
- 20151116022339A
- Case key
- 92364
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 pitch control during the landing, which resulted 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 flight instructor reported that during landing, the student pilot landed the airplane on its main landing gear, the airplane bounced, and then landed flat on the main landing gear and nose wheel at the same time. At the end of the instructional lesson, the airplane landed at the flight school without further incident. A hard landing was reported to the maintenance department and a postflight inspection revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The flight instructor reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor reported that during landing, the student pilot landed the airplane on its main landing gear, the airplane bounced, and then landed flat on the main landing gear and nose wheel at the same time. At the end of the instructional lesson, the airplane landed at the flight school without further incident. A hard landing was reported to the maintenance department and a postflight inspection revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The flight instructor reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26499
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R (R)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17280730
- Built
- 1999
- Airframe hours
- 5,922.1
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-LZA, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Empire Aviation and Leasing LLC, doing business as Frederick Flight Center
- Registered owner
- Pioneer Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 20, 2015
- Departed
- DMW · Westminster, MD
- Destination
- DMW · Westminster, MD
- Airport
- DMW · Carroll County Rgnl/Jack B Poa, runway 34, 5,100 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Waiver time limited special
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 481 total · 269 in this make and model · 378 as pilot in command · 26 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 15 total · 15 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- KDMW
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 3, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.0 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.