- Date
- April 8, 1998, 16:45 local (23:45 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6417JCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980408021289A
- Case key
- 30123
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 misjudging the landing flare 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 pilot misjudged the landing flare and the aircraft landed hard rupturing the nosewheel tire. The tire was replaced and the mechanic who replaced the tire declared the aircraft airworthy. The aircraft was flown to its home base where it was examined and found to have a distorted firewall and boot cowl. This was reported as an incident on April 8, 1998, and was upgraded to an accident on June 17, 1998.
Factual narrative
On April 8, 1998, at 1645 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N6417J, sustained substantial damage while landing at the Santa Barbara, California, airport. The private pilot and passenger, the sole occupants, were not injured. The personal flight originated at the Van Nuys, California, airport, at 1535, and an IFR flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed along the route of flight.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector from the Van Nuys, California, Flight Standards District Office interviewed the pilot. The inspector stated that the pilot reported that he made a hard landing on runway 25, then taxied the aircraft off the runway and noticed that the nose gear strut was collapsed and the nose wheel tire was flat. The pilot reported that the winds at the time of the accident were from 260 degrees at 10 knots.
After the accident, the aircraft operator was contacted and authorized replacement of the tire. The mechanic who replaced the tire signed off the aircraft as airworthy, and the aircraft was subsequently flown to its home base in El Monte where the operator inspected it. At that time, it was determined that the extent of the damage was more severe than first reported. An FAA inspector from the Los Angeles Flight Standards District Office inspected the aircraft and found a distorted firewall and boot cowl.
This was reported as an incident on April 8, 1998, and was upgraded to an accident on June 17, 1998.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6417J
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273871
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fast Aviation
- Registered owner
- John G. Vargas
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
- Destination
- SBA
- Airport
- SBA · Santa Barbara, runway 25, 6,052 × 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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 241 total · 17 in this make and model · 187 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.