- Date
- September 14, 1997, 10:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Long Beach, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N61913Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970914046899A
- Case key
- 29908
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 landing flare which led to a balloon and subsequent hard 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 had been endorsed for a solo flight in the pattern. On landing the aircraft ballooned slightly. During recovery, the nose gear struck the runway hard deflating the nose tire and damaging the firewall.
Factual narrative
On September 14, 1997, at 1045 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172M, N61913, landed hard on runway 25R at the Long Beach, California, airport. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, and the student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the local solo instructional flight that originated from Long Beach at 0900.
The student pilot was endorsed for a solo flight in the pattern. She stated that the aircraft ballooned slightly on landing. During the recovery, the nose gear struck hard and the nose tire deflated. The student pilot reported that after the landing was completed, she cleared the active runway and received clearance from a ground controller to taxi to the parking area.
The accident was reported to the Safety Board on October 9, 1997, following discovery of damage to the firewall. There were no reported mechanical problems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N61913
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17264881
- Airframe hours
- 6,631
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Dale Choppin
- Registered owner
- Kerry F. Choppin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 6, 1997 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- LGB
- Airport
- LGB · Daughtery Field, runway 25R, 6,192 × 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20 total · 20 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LGB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.