- Date
- September 4, 2006, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Baltimore, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N65659Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Baltimore FSDO
- Case key
- 64505
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, which resulted 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 the landing flare, the airplane "ballooned up a little," and then landed hard. The student pilot then performed four more landings, before taxiing the airplane to the hangar without further incident. The pilot stated that no damage was evident during the post-flight examination of the airplane. A subsequent examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed a misaligned nose gear assembly, a buckled firewall, buckled fuselage flooring, and a buckled left wing outboard of the wing spar.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot of a Cessna 172P, during the landing flare, the airplane "ballooned up a little," and then had a "hard landing." He stated that he performed four more landings, and then taxied the airplane to the hangar without further incident. The pilot further stated that no damage was evident during the postflight examination of the airplane. A subsequent examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed a misaligned nose gear assembly, a buckled firewall, buckled fuselage flooring, and a buckled left wing outboard of the wing spar.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65659
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275805
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Phoenix Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KMTN · Baltimore, MD
- Destination
- KMTN · Baltimore, MD
- Airport
- KMTN · Martin State Airport, runway 33, 6,996 × 180 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
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 15 total · 15 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- KMTN
Other investigations on N65659 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.