- Date
- March 28, 2006, 09:25 local (16:25 UTC)
- Place
- Aurora, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N20488Cessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060328030479A
- Case key
- 63563
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 misjudgment of the landing flare resulting in a hard landing. A related factor was the crosswind.
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 trying to land in a 12 knot crosswind when he failed to flare soon enough to ensure a normal touchdown. Therefore, the aircraft landed hard, bounced back into the air, and then came down on the nose gear and the right main landing gear. The force of the landing was sufficient to result in substantial damage to the aircraft's firewall.
Factual narrative
On March 28, 2006, approximately 0925, Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172, N20488, experienced a hard landing at Aurora State Airport, Aurora, Oregon. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, but the aircraft, which is operated by Willamette Aviation, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 solo instructional flight, which departed the same airport approximately 25 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions.
According to the student pilot, he was trying to land in a 12 knot crosswind when he failed to flare soon enough to ensure a normal touchdown. Therefore, the aircraft landed hard, bounced back into the air, and then came down on the nose gear and the right main landing gear. The force of the landing was sufficient to result in substantial damage to the aircraft's firewall.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20488
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17261331
- Engine
- Continental O-320, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Willamette Aviation
- Registered owner
- David F. Waggoner
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KUAO · Aurora, OR
- Destination
- KUAO · Aurora, OR
- Airport
- KUAO · Aurora State, runway 35
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 49
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 66 total · 66 in this make and model · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N20488 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.