- Date
- July 14, 2002, 12:40 local (16:40 UTC)
- Place
- Middletown, RI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N733NQCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 16, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020714016029A
- Case key
- 55263
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. A factor was the shifting wind.
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 was lined up with the centerline of runway 22, and "the numbers" were in the center of the pilot's windscreen. The pilot's "approach profile" was "normal", and the VASI lights were red over white. The pilot lowered the flaps to 30 degrees, and "headed for the numbers." He noticed wind gusts as he approached the runway. As the airplane passed over the numbers, the pilot reduced engine power to idle, and began to level off. The airplane was 5-6 feet above the runway, when the pilot felt it begin to sink. He applied back pressure to the yoke, and the airplane's nose pitched up higher than normal, which the pilot attributed to a gust of wind. The pilot released back pressure in an attempt to level the airplane, but was "now too slow and the nose sank, causing the nose wheel to hit the ground very hard and the aircraft bounced back up." The pilot maintained the engine power at idle, and the airplane bounced once more before finally landing. Winds were from 210 degrees true, variable 160 to 320 degrees true, at 7 knots. The pilot had logged 97 hours of total flight time, with 15 hours in make and model, and 1.7 hours in the previous 90 days.
Factual narrative
On July 14, 2002, about 1240 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N733NQ, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Newport State Airport (UUU), Middletown, Rhode Island. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. No flight plan had been filed for the flight, from Theodore Francis Green State Airport (PVD), Warwick, Rhode Island, to Newport State. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, the airplane was lined up with the centerline of runway 22, and "the numbers" were in the center of his windscreen. The pilot's "approach profile" was "normal", and the VASI lights were red over white.
As the airplane approached the runway threshold, the pilot lowered the flaps to 30 degrees, and "headed for the numbers." The pilot noticed wind gusts as he approached the runway.
As the airplane passed over the numbers, the pilot reduced engine power to idle, and began to level off. The airplane was 5-6 feet above the runway, when the pilot felt it begin to sink. He applied back pressure to the yoke, and the airplane's nose pitched up higher than normal, which the pilot attributed to a gust of wind.
The pilot released back pressure in an attempt to level the airplane, but was "now too slow and the nose sank, causing the nose wheel to hit the ground very hard and the aircraft bounced back up." The pilot maintained the engine power at idle, and the airplane bounced once more before finally landing.
Weather, recorded at the airport at 1253, included winds from 210 degrees true, variable 160 to 320 degrees true, at 7 knots.
The pilot had logged 97 hours of total flight time, with 15 hours in make and model, and 1.7 hours in the previous 90 days.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N733NQ
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17268423
- Airframe hours
- 2,166
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- New Horizon Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 26, 2002 · 42 hours before
- Departed
- PVD · Warwick, RI
- Destination
- UUU · Middletown, RI
- Airport
- UUU · Newport State Airport, runway 22, 2,999 × 75 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
- 40
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- November 18, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 97 total · 15 in this make and model · 57 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- UUU
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 5, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 417 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.