- Date
- September 28, 2011, 14:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Napa, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N21284Cessna 172R
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 1, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20110928024009A
- Case key
- 81925
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.
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 student pilot was on a solo training flight. The student flew in the local practice area and then returned to the departure airport for touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. The student completed one landing uneventfully. On the second landing, as the student flared, the airplane ballooned to approximately 20 feet above ground level. The airplane dropped hard and the nose and right wing impacted the runway, followed by the left wing. A postaccident examination revealed that the wing spar sustained substantial damage. The student reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot was on a solo training flight. The student and a certified flight instructor reviewed weather and additional flight information prior to the flight. The student flew in the local area and then returned to the departure airport for touch and go takeoffs and landings. The student completed one landing uneventfully. On the second landing, the airplane drifted across the runway and it climbed approximately 20 feet above ground level during the initiation of the flare. The airplane dropped and the nose and right wing impacted the runway, followed by the left wing impacting the pavement. A post accident examination revealed that the wing spar was damaged. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N21284
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17281178
- Airframe hours
- 1,467
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Iasco Flight Training Inc
- Registered owner
- Iasco Flight Training Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 14, 2011 · 28 hours before
- Departed
- APC · Napa, CA
- Destination
- APC · Napa, CA
- Airport
- APC · Napa County Airport, runway 18R, 5,930 × 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
- 19
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 50 total · 50 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- APC
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 21, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 134 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.