- Date
- April 16, 1997, 16:40 local (20:40 UTC)
- Place
- Lincoln Park, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1405ECessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 2, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970416006019A
- Case key
- 39346
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 student pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing which resulted in a hard landing, collapsed nose gear, loss of directional control, and subsequent nose over.
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 landed hard, bounced, and then landed on the nose wheel. The nose wheel collapsed, directional control was not maintained, and the airplane veered off the side of the runway and nosed over. The student was on his fifth solo flight..
Factual narrative
On April 16, 1997, at 1640 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N1405E, was substantially damaged when it veered off the runway and nosed over while landing on Runway 19 at the Lincoln Park Airport, Lincoln Park, New Jersey. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The local flight originated at Lincoln Park, approximately 1620, and was conducted under 14 CFR part 91.
The student pilot reported to the Lincoln Park Police that he "...was approaching the runway on final at roughly 65 knots - I crabbed into the wind - what I thought was a normal landing. When I touched down the airplane bounced. After the 1st or 2nd bounce it veered off the runway to the left onto the grass. Seems like the wind pushed me over."
In the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the student pilot reported:
"Upon landing I ballooned, when I hit the runway the second time I had trouble holding the aircraft on the runway. After traveling down the runway for a distance, the aircraft rolled onto the grass on the left side of the runway. After slowing down somewhat, the aircraft flipped over once, onto the wings."
Examination of the airplane and interviews with the pilot by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector revealed the nose wheel collapsed during a hard, bounced landing. The Inspector stated that this was the student pilot's 5th solo flight.
The pilot reported that the airplane had no mechanical deficiencies.
At 1650, an airport 5 miles to the south of Lincoln Park reported winds from 220 degrees at 10 knots.
The student pilot had a total flight experience of 33 hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1405E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270958
- Airframe hours
- 2,918
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Lincoln Park Aviation
- Registered owner
- Frg III Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 1, 1997 · 43 hours before
- Departed
- N07
- Airport
- N07 · Lincoln Park Airport, runway 19, 2,992 × 45 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
- 43
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 33 total · 33 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CDW, 5 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.