- Date
- July 9, 1995, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Stormville, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N734CGCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 16, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950709024629A
- Case key
- 38994
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 reported pothole in the runway.
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 student pilot was on his third supervised solo flight. He stated that during the landing, '. . . The instant the nose wheel rolled down, it struck a large pothole in the runway. This broke the nose landing gear . . . .' The student said he held the nose off the ground until the airplane slowed, then the propeller struck the runway surface, the remainder of the nose gear broke off, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest. Postaccident examination revealed no preimpact anomalies with the airplane. Additionally, the airport facility directory stated that the runway had 'wide cracks and weeds.'
Factual narrative
On July 9, 1995, about 1130 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N734CG, nosed over during the landing roll, at Stormville Airport, Stormville, New York. The student pilot was not injured and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The flight was conducted as an instructional flight by Grass Hopper Flying Club Inc., under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from Poughkeepsie, New York at 1000. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and there was no flight plan.
According to the flight instructor, this was the student pilot's third supervised solo. The student had completed the previous supervised solo flights satisfactorily.
In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the student pilot stated,
...The approach was normal. I made a normal landing on the main landing gear. At the instant that the nose wheel rolled down, it struck a large pothole in the runway. This broke the nose landing gear....
The airplane came to rest nosed over near the departure end of the runway.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration Inspector, postaccident examination revealed no anomalies with the engine or airframe. The nose gear bent in a rearward direction and the shock strut had not collapsed.
Additionally, the Airport Facility Directory stated that the runway had wide cracks and weeds.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N734CG
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17268745
- Airframe hours
- 3,357
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Grasshopper Flying Club Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- POU · Poughkeepsie, NY
- Destination
- N69
- Airport
- N69 · Stormville, runway 24, 3,315 × 50 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 22 total · 15 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- POU, 7 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.