- Date
- October 30, 1997, 09:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Salisbury, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1487VCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 28, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971030048119A
- Case key
- 39499
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 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
As the student pilot was landing, after a solo cross country flight, the airplane began to float in ground effect. The student pilot then pushed the controls forward touching down on the nose wheel. The airplane began to bounce and subsequently sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
On October 30, 1997 at 0930 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172M, N1487V, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at the Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport, Salisbury, Maryland. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the solo cross country flight that departed the Martin State Airport, Baltimore, Maryland, about 0845. A visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In a statement submitted by the student pilot, he reported that there were no problems encountered while en route. When he arrived at Salisbury, he conducted an approach to runway 32 with 20 degrees of flaps and an airspeed of 80 MPH. During the landing, the airplane floated in ground effect, and the student pilot released back pressure and lowered the nose. The airplane then landed hard on the nose wheel and began to bounce several times.
Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector revealed that the firewall was wrinkled. There was no evidence of pre-impact failures with the airplane nor did the student pilot report any.
The winds at Salisbury were reported as calm.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1487V
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17263621
- Airframe hours
- 5,737
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Brett Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- Caplan Leasing Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 9, 1997 · 43 hours before
- Departed
- MTN · Baltimore, MD
- Destination
- SBY
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- SBY · Salsbury-Ocean City Reg., runway 32, 5,500 × 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
- 67
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 157 total · 154 in this make and model · 15 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.