- Date
- August 1, 1999, 11:10 local (15:10 UTC)
- Place
- Cheswold, DE
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2746CCessna 172R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 10, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 46974
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 and 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 pilot stated that while landing at his destination, the first approach to land on Runway 27 was high, and a go-around was performed. The second attempt to land on the runway was long, and the airplane floated about halfway down the runway, before touching down hard. The airplane then bounced into the air, and settled back to the ground, touching down hard a second time. The airplane bounced several more times, until the pilot added full power, and executed a go-around. The pilot climbed the airplane to about 3,000 feet above the ground, and returned to his departure airport. The pilot did not notice any vibrations during the return flight, and the airplane performed normally, except for a slightly slower airspeed. Examination of the airplane revealed damage to the main gear, the main cabin floorboards, buckling of the firewall, and 2-inch rearward curling of the propeller
Factual narrative
On August 1, 1999, about 1110 Eastern Daylight Time, a Cessna 172R, N2746C, was substantially damaged while landing at the Delaware Airport (33N), Cheswold, Delaware. The certificated private pilot and the passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight that originated at the Brandywine Airport (N99), West Chester, Pennsylvania, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated that while landing at 33N, the first approach to land on Runway 27, a 3,715-foot long asphalt runway, was high, and a go-around was performed. The second attempt to land on Runway 27 was long, and the airplane floated about halfway down the runway, before touching down hard. The airplane then bounced into the air, and settled back to the ground, touching down hard a second time. The airplane bounced several more times, until the pilot added full power, and executed a go-around. The pilot climbed the airplane to about 3,000 feet above the ground, and returned to N99. The pilot did not notice any vibrations during the return flight, and the airplane performed normally, except for a slightly slower airspeed.
Examination of the airplane at N99 by a Federal Aviation Inspector revealed damage to the main gear, the main cabin floorboards, buckling of the firewall, and 2-inch rearward curling of the propeller blades.
The winds reported at an airport located 5 miles to the southeast, at 1045 were, 300 degrees at 8 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2746C
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17280587
- Airframe hours
- 467
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-B1E, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tas Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 8, 1999 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- N99 · West Chester, PA
- Destination
- 33N
- Airport
- 33N · Delaware Airport, runway 27, 3,715 × 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
- 63
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 175 total · 29 in this make and model · 65 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DOV, 5 nm away