- Date
- July 25, 2010, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Maria, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N172CYCessna 172S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Van Nuys FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100725055579A
- Case key
- 77432
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 inadequate flare which resulted in a bounce and hard landing.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The solo student pilot reported that he made a 40 minute flight to the destination airport in order to meet a family member for lunch. In order to initiate the landing flare, he pulled back on the control yoke, but the airplane's nose pitched up more than he expected. The pilot stated that he corrected for the higher than expected pitch attitude by pushing forward on the yoke, resulting in the airplane's nose wheel being "dropped" onto the runway surface. After contacting the runway surface, the nose wheel porpoised (bounced) one time before contacting the surface a final time. The pilot was ultimately able to stabilize the airplane by applying back pressure to the control yoke. Although he did not become aware of it until he returned to his initial point of departure, the airplane's nose wheel had struck the runway surface with sufficient force to buckle the lower part of the firewall and the forward portion of the floorboard. The propeller had also come in contact with the runway surface. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot reported that he made a 40 minute flight to the destination airport in order to meet a family member for lunch. In order to initiate the landing flare, he pulled back on the control yoke, but the airplane's nose pitched up more than he expected. The pilot stated that he corrected for the higher than expected pitch attitude by pushing forward on the yoke, resulting in the airplane's nose wheel being "dropped" onto the runway surface. After contacting the runway surface, the nose wheel porpoised (bounced) one time before contacting the surface a final time. The pilot was ultimately able to stabilize the airplane by applying back pressure to the control yoke. Although he did not become aware of it until he returned to his initial point of departure, the airplane's nose wheel had struck the runway surface with sufficient force to buckle the lower part of the firewall and the forward portion of the floorboard. The propeller had also come in contact with the runway surface. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N172CY
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8729
- Engine
- Lycoming IO360 SER A&C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pacific Aerocademy
- Registered owner
- Donald P Alderman Md Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KSBP · San Luis Obispo, CA
- Destination
- Santa Maria, CA
- Airport
- KSMX · Santa Maria Public, runway 30, 6,304 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 35 total · 29 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 5, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 794 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.