- Date
- May 23, 1995, 20:45 local (May 24, 1995, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Allentown, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N621PWCessna 177B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950523013099A
- Case key
- 38968
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 misjudged the flare, resulting in a hard, bounced landing and impact with the runway. A factor in this accident was an 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 airplane bounced during a hard land, damaging the nose wheel, propeller,and engine firewall. According to the pilot, '...I was on short final to runway 24 and set up for the approach to land. When above the runway, and in the landing configuration, the aircraft touched down on the main wheels first, then ballooned (porpoised) back up into the air, and came back down on the nose wheel...'
Factual narrative
On May 23, 1995, about 2045 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177B, N621PW, was substantially damaged during the landing at the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Airport (ABE), Allentown, Pennsylvania. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The personal flight had departed the Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport at 2025, and was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, that he touched down on runway 24 on the main wheels first. He then stated:
...the aircraft touched then ballooned (porpoised) back up into the air and came back down on the nose wheel settling on the runway. I contacted the tower and requested to taxi to a hanger to check the airplane damage after the hard landing...after taxiing to the hanger I discovered the damage....
Runway 24 at ABE Airport was 7,600 feet long and 150 feet wide. According to the pilot, the winds at the time of the accident were from 190 degrees at 9 knots, and no gusts.
At the time of the accident, the pilot's total flight time was 209.0 hours, of which 123.4 hours were in this make and model airplane. The pilot wrote on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, that he had 101 hours in this make and model airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N621PW
- Reported as
- Cessna 177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17702461
- Airframe hours
- 2,873
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1F6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Skyten Flying Club Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 9, 1995 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- 1N9 · PA
- Destination
- ABE
- Airport
- ABE · Allentown-Bethlehem-Easto, runway 24, 7,600 × 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
- 35
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 209 total · 123 in this make and model · 139 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 190° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.