- Date
- May 19, 2014, 12:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Buckeye, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1590WCessna 172 - R
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 24, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Case key
- 89574
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 landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 3
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 pilot reported that at the last moment before touchdown a sudden gust of wind abruptly pushed the airplane to the left side of the runway. Able to maintain control with rudder input, after landing the pilot exited the runway, and parked the airplane. The pilot conducted a visual examination of the airplane and detected no anomalies. He then departed to practice maneuvers before returning to the home base airport. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that both propeller blade tips were damaged, the fuselage skin was wrinkled, and the firewall had sustained substantial damage as a result of a hard landing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that at the last moment before touchdown a sudden gust of wind abruptly pushed the airplane to the left side of the runway. Able to maintain control with rudder input, after landing the pilot exited the runway, and parked the airplane. The pilot conducted a visual examination of the airplane and detected no anomalies. He then departed to practice maneuvers before returning to the home base airport. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that both propeller blade tips were damaged, the fuselage skin was wrinkled, and the firewall had sustained substantial damage as a result of a hard landing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1590W
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 - R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17281256
- Built
- 2005
- Airframe hours
- 3,791
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Westwind Aviation Incorporated
- Registered owner
- Westwind Aviation Incorporated
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 13, 2014 · 37 hours before
- Departed
- DVT · Phoenix, AZ
- Destination
- BXK · Buckeye, AZ
- Airport
- BXK · Buckeye Municipal, runway 35, 5,500 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 30
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 8, 2014
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 217 total · 208 in this make and model · 161 as pilot in command · 75 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 12 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.80 inHg
- Observed at
- BXK, 5 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 10, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.9 MB in all.
Other investigations on N1590W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.