- Date
- September 12, 1990, 18:00 local (Sep 13, 1990, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fresno, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N738PFCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900912043439A
- Case key
- 26932
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 misjudged the flare altitude and failed to properly recover from a bounced landing.
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 student pilot was practicing takeoffs and landing. On the second landing he misjudged the airplane's altitude, landed hard and bounced. The student pilot failed to correct the bounced landing and the airplane began to propoise until the nose landing gear collapsed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N738PF
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dale Victor Gawley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Airport
- FAT · Fresno Air Term, runway 29R, 9,222 × 150 ft, macadam
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 30 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- FAT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.