- Date
- August 13, 2004, 10:53 local (20:53 UTC)
- Place
- Honolulu, HI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3554YCessna 172S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 59906
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 misjudged flare, which resulted in a hard landing. Also causal was the student pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing and pilot induced porpoise and failure to maintain directional control on the landing roll, which resulted in the nose gear collapsing.
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 experienced a hard landing, porpoised, and veered off the runway. The student pilot was attempting to land. During the landing flare, the airplane touched down hard and bounced back into the air. The airplane continued to bounce down the runway, veering to the right. On the third bounce the nose gear collapsed and the airplane continued to the right, off the runway, coming to rest on a grass median. The student pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On August 13, 2004, at 1053 Hawaiian standard time, a Cessna 172S, N3554Y, experienced a hard landing and veered off the runway at the Honolulu International Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii. Flight School Hawaii was operating the rental airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed. The local instructional flight originated at Kalaeloa Airport, Kapolei, Hawaii, about 1030, with a planned destination of Honolulu.
In a telephone conversation with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the student pilot reported that he was attempting to land on runway 04L. He configured the airplane for landing and noted that the approach appeared normal. During the landing flare, the airplane touched down on the main landing gear and bounced back into the air. Upon returning back down onto the runway surface the airplane hit hard and bounced down the runway several more times. On the third bounce the nose gear collapsed and the airplane veered to the right. It continued off the runway and came to rest on a grass median. The airplane incurred damage to the firewall.
In a written statement, the student pilot stated that he did not properly flare, which resulted in a hard landing. He added that in retrospect, he should have added power and executed a go-around. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3554Y
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8956
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Flight School Hawaii
- Registered owner
- Makani Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Departed
- PHJR · Kapolei, HI
- Destination
- PHNL · Honolulu, HI
- Airport
- PHNL · Honolulu International Airport, runway 04L
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
- 81
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 54 total · 54 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Other investigations on N3554Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.