- Date
- May 4, 1996, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Marana, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8811BCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 17, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960504015889A
- Case key
- 29451
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 improper flare and improper recovery 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 airplane sustained a hard landing, bounced, and began to porpoise. On the second touchdown, the airplane struck the ground in a nose down attitude and buckled the firewall, but the pilot was able to stop the airplane. The pilot said that the airplane did not experience any preimpact malfunctions or failures. He also said that a ground witness observed a dust devil about 200 feet from the airport.
Factual narrative
On May 4, 1996, at 1030 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 172, N8811B, sustained a hard landing at Taylor Airstrip, Marana, Arizona, while on a visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. Neither the certificated private pilot nor his passenger was injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Tucson International Airport, Tucson, Arizona, at 1000 hours.
This accident was originally reported as an incident. During the repair the mechanic found that the firewall was buckled, resulting in major structural damage.
An FAA inspector from the Scottsdale [Arizona] Flight Standards District Office reported that the pilot said he bounced two times during the landing sequence. On the second touchdown, the airplane's nose gear struck the ground.
The pilot repeated his statement in the accident report. He added that a ground witness told him that he saw a dust devil about 200 feet from the airport. The pilot also indicated in the accident report that the airplane did not experience any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures, and that he should have executed a go-around after the airplane bounced.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8811B
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 36511
- Airframe hours
- 4,000
- Engine
- Continental O-300-A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Timothy J. Allen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 21, 1995 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- TUS · Tucson, AZ
- Destination
- 0AZ1
- Airport
- runway 32, 3,200 × 80 ft, dirt
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 166 total · 57 in this make and model · 106 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 8 knots, gusting 12
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N8811B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.