- Date
- March 9, 2002, 17:25 local (Mar 10, 2002, 00:25 UTC)
- Place
- Tucson, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4410RCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 29, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20020309009679A
- Case key
- 54339
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 misjudged landing flare and improper bounced landing recovery.
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 airplane bounced on landing and entered a porpoise, damaging the firewall. The pilot reported that she flared high. The airplane landed hard and bounced. Instead of aborting the landing, she pulled back on the yoke, and the airplane began to porpoise. The airplane bounced off the nose gear about two more times before stopping.
Factual narrative
On March 9, 2002, about 1725 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172M, N4410R, landed hard at the Tucson International Airport, Tucson, Arizona. Double Eagle Aviation was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The instructional cross-country flight departed Casa Grande Municipal Airport, Casa Grande, Arizona, about 1640, en route to Tucson. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed.
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector interviewed the pilot, who stated that while landing, she flared high. The airplane landed hard and bounced. Instead of aborting the landing, she pulled back on the yoke, and the airplane began to porpoise. The airplane bounced off the nose gear about two more times before stopping. The airplane incurred damage to the firewall and nose gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4410R
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17263159
- Airframe hours
- 7,893
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Double Eagle Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 2002 · 9.3 hours before
- Departed
- CGZ · Casa Grande, AZ
- Destination
- TUS · Tucson, AZ
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- KTUS · Tucson International Airport, runway 11L, 10,996 × 150 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
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 91 total · 91 in this make and model · 3 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- TUS
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 16, 2004, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 379 KB 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.