- Date
- July 29, 2017, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Ana, CA
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1129KCessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Not reported
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA/ FSDO
- FAA report
- 20170729016739A
- Case key
- 95779
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
A hard landing and propeller strike for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence.
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 Federal Aviation Administration aviation safety inspector reported that, during a preflight inspection, the student pilot and designated pilot examiner observed propeller damage. Further inspection by maintenance personnel revealed substantial damage to the firewall and fuselage consistent with a hard landing. The airplane was flown by numerous renter pilots before the damage was found, and none of them claimed responsibility for the damage. The time of the accident and the identification of the pilot(s) are unknown.
Factual narrative
The Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Inspector reported that, during a preflight inspection, the student pilot and designated pilot examiner observed propeller damage during their preflight inspection. Subsequently, a further inspection by maintenance personnel revealed substantial damage to the firewall and fuselage. The airplane was flown by numerous renter pilots prior to the damage being found, and none of them claimed responsibility for the damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1129K
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S10315
- Built
- 2006
- Airframe hours
- 4,500
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Orange County Flight Center
- Registered owner
- American Airplane Exchange
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 30, 2017
- Departed
- NONE · Unknown
- Destination
- NONE · Unknown
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, 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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Not reported
- Icing
- Unknown
- Turbulence
- Unknown
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 30, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 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.