- Date
- October 23, 2014, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hawthorne, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N564ATCessna 172 - S
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 12, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20141023019869A
- Case key
- 90319
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 flare which resulted in a loss of aircraft control and subsequent 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 pilot reported that during landing he flared too high, which resulted in the airplane bouncing hard three times. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall had sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during landing he flared too high, which resulted in the airplane bouncing hard three times. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall had sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N564AT
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 - S (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S10020
- Built
- 2005
- Airframe hours
- 3,674
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Pacific Air flight School
- Registered owner
- Uvalde Flight Center Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 17, 2014 · 42 hours before
- Departed
- HHR · Hawthorne, CA
- Destination
- HHR · Hawthorne, CA
- Airport
- HHR · Hawthorne Municipal Airport, runway 25, 4,956 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, 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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 51 total · 51 in this make and model · 0.2 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 51 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- HHR
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 19, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 MB 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.