- Date
- November 25, 1996, 13:35 local (21:35 UTC)
- Place
- Van Nuys, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N54686Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19961125045949A
- Case key
- 29691
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
improper flare by the pilot during the landing, and his improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a hard landing, dragged wing tip, and a collapsed main gear.
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
During a private pilot practical flight test, the applicant (a student pilot) made a simulated soft field approach, and the aircraft bounced 5 to 6 feet in the air after touchdown. The student decided to go-around and applied full power, but the aircraft rolled left and drug its left wing tip. The flight examiner attempted to take control of the aircraft, but was unable to prevent it from again colliding with the runway. At the time of the accident, a 5-knot/80-degree left crosswind was reported. According to the aircraft manufacturer, the crosswind component was within the aircraft performance parameters.
Factual narrative
On November 25, 1996, at 1335 hours Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172P, N54686, collided with the runway after a bounced landing at the Van Nuys, California, airport. The aircraft sustained substantial damage; however, neither the designated pilot examiner nor the private pilot applicant was injured. The flight originated in Van Nuys about 1200. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed.
The applicant had made a simulated soft field approach to runway 16R when the aircraft bounced about 5 to 6 feet in the air. He decided to go-around and applied full power, but the aircraft responded by rolling left until its left wing tip drug along the runway. The examiner attempted to take control of the aircraft but was unable to prevent it from again colliding with the runway.
During the second impact sequence, the propeller and right wing tip struck the runway and both the nose gear and right main gear collapsed. The aircraft came to rest off the left side of the runway.
At the time of the accident a 5-knot, 80-degree left crosswind was reported. According to the aircraft manufacturer, the crosswind component is within the aircraft performance parameters.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54686
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275036
- Airframe hours
- 5,381
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Dls Ventures, Inc., doing business as Flightworks
- Registered owner
- Dennis Shelby, Mike Fenton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 14, 1996 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- VNY · CA
- Airport
- VNY · Van Nuys, runway 16R, 8,001 × 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
- 33
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 69 total · 69 in this make and model · 24 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VNY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.