- Date
- April 16, 2003, 12:50 local (16:50 UTC)
- Place
- Blacksburg, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N21520Cessna 182P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20030416030379A
- Case key
- 56856
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 his 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 pilot had attempted three landings, with the first two attempts resulting in a go-around. During the third landing attempt, the airplane touched down hard and bounced back into the air. The airplane touched down hard again, with the propeller striking the runway, before coming to rest upright on the runway. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical deficiencies with the airplanes flight controls.
Factual narrative
On April 16, 2003, at 1250 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182P, N21520, was substantially damaged while landing at the Virginia Tech Airport (BCB), Blacksburg, Virginia. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, he had attempted three landings to runway 30, a 4,539-foot long, 100-foot wide, asphalt runway. The first two attempts resulted in a go-around. During the third landing attempt, the airplane touched down hard and bounced back into the air. The airplane touched down hard again, with the propeller striking the runway, before coming to rest upright on the runway.
When a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the wreckage, he observed substantial damage to the engine compartment firewall. The inspector did not observe any mechanical deficiencies with the airplanes flight controls.
The pilot reported 80 hours of total flight experience in make and model airplane.
The winds recorded at a nearby airport about the time of accident, were from 270 degrees at 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N21520
- Reported as
- Cessna 182P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18261686
- Airframe hours
- 3,113
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Hokie Flying Club Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 9, 2002 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- VJI · Abingdon, VA
- Destination
- BCB · Blacksburg, VA
- Airport
- BCB · Virginia Tech Airport, runway 30, 4,550 × 100 ft, concrete
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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- January 18, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 245 total · 80 in this make and model · 142 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- ROA, 20 nm away
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 N21520 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.