- Date
- August 10, 2005, 12:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Patuxent River, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7880NCessna R172E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- IAD FSDO
- FAA report
- 20050810033749A
- Case key
- 62240
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 recovery from a bounced landing, resulting in a 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
During landing, the pilot "porpoised" the airplane and did not recover until the third touchdown. He realized after parking the airplane, that the propeller had struck the ground during the landing. The pilot reported 322 hours of total flight experience, 311 of which were in make and model. He additionally reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall.
Factual narrative
On August 10, 2005, at 1230 eastern daylight time, a Cessna R172E, N7880N, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station (NHK), Patuxent River, Maryland. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight which originated at the Walter Francis Duke Regional Airport (2W6), Leonardtown, Maryland. The solo instructional flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, during landing at NHK, he "porpoised" the airplane, and did not recover until the third touchdown. He realized after parking the airplane, that the propeller had struck the ground during the landing. The pilot reported 322 hours of total flight experience, 311 of which were in make and model. He additionally reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane.
Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed substantial damage to the firewall.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7880N
- Reported as
- Cessna R172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R172-0271
- Airframe hours
- 8,967
- Engine
- Continental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Patuxent River Navy Flying Club
- Registered owner
- United States Air Force
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2005
- Departed
- 2W6 · Leonardtown, MD
- Destination
- NHK · Patuxent River, MD
- Airport
- NHK · Patuxent River Naval Air Stat., runway 02, 5,000 × 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
- 74
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 322 total · 311 in this make and model · 45 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 30,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- NHK
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.