SEA99LA077

The solo student pilot, who reported his total time as 70 hours (including about 40 hours in make and model) reported he dropped in and bounced his landing, and was unable to get the airplane back onto the 3,002-foot-long runway by the halfway point. He then attempted a go-around, but failed to clear trees off the departure end of the runway. The student pilot reported no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved. An FAA inspector who examined the airplane after the accident found the airplane's flaps extended about 30 to 32 degrees; the balked landing procedure for the aircraft specifies that flaps be set to 20 degrees immediately upon initiation of a balked landing, then set to 10 degrees until obstacles are cleared.

On May 27, 1999, approximately 1530 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N5120D, owned by Crest Airpark Inc., Covington, Washington, sustained substantial damage when it crashed during an attempted go-around from Crest Airpark. The solo student pilot received minor injuries in the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR 91 local flight.

The student pilot reported:

I was landing at Crest Airpark on Runway 33....I was set to touch down and started my flair [sic], the airspeed said 60 knots and I had full flaps in. The airplane was settling in nicely, but then stopped going down and it didn't want to descend. All of a sudden I lost all lift and dropped to the runway and bounced back up. I added a little throttle to smooth out the landing and the plane again wouldn't descend onto the runway. I was about 50% down the runway and decided that I should go around. I added full power and brought the flaps up. I checked my airspeed and it was at 60 knots so I thought that I could climb out ok [sic]. But, the plane wouldn't climb and I was headed strait [sic] towards some trees. I decided to get a [sic] slow as possible and pulled the throttle back, lowered the flaps and braced for impact. I went into the trees and bushes and stopped....

The student pilot was found by FAA inspectors to be properly endorsed for the solo flight. He reported his total time to the NTSB as 70 hours, including 39.4 hours in the Cessna 172. The student pilot reported that winds were calm at the time, and indicated on his NTSB accident report that no mechanical failure or malfunction was involved in the accident.

Crest Airpark runway 33 is a 3,285- by 40-foot asphalt runway. The runway 33 threshold is displaced 283 feet, yielding a usable landing distance of 3,002 feet. The runway markings are listed as being nonstandard and in poor condition. Trees extending to a height of 65 feet above the primary landing surface are located 330 feet from the displaced threshold 144 feet left of the runway centerline, and zero to 200 feet from the threshold 120 feet right of the runway centerline. Parked aircraft are also located adjacent to both sides of the primary landing surface at the north end of the runway, and trees to a height of 50 feet are located 200 feet beyond the departure end. An approach ratio of 5:1 is specified for runway 33, due to the obstructions.

An FAA inspector who examined the aircraft after the accident reported to the NTSB that he observed the aircraft's flaps extended approximately 30 to 32 degrees. Full flap extension on the aircraft is 40 degrees. The balked landing procedure in the Cessna 172N pilot's operating handbook (POH) specifies that upon initiating a balked landing, flaps are to be set to 20 degrees immediately, and then set to 10 degrees until obstacles are cleared. The POH specifies a balked landing climb speed of 55 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS). Wing flaps are retracted after reaching a safe altitude and a speed of 60 KIAS.