- Date
- May 8, 2021, 10:27 local (17:27 UTC)
- Place
- Tucson, AZ · KRYN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N54140Cessna 172P
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20210508008239A
- Case key
- 103052
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 pitch control and landing flare, which resulted in a hard bounce and subsequent porpoised landing.
Findings · 4
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 reported that during a supervised solo training flight, he was instructed to remain within the airport traffic pattern and perform three full stop takeoffs and landings. During the second landing, the airplane porpoised and veered left, so he aborted the landing and initiated a go-around. The student’s flight instructor observed the solo flight and recalled that the wind was light and variable. He reported that during the student’s third landing, the airplane floated for several seconds before the nose dropped and the airplane landed hard. Subsequently, the airplane bounced, a porpoise ensued, and a propeller strike occurred. The airplane remained on the runway and the student pilot taxied to the parking area. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage forward bulkheads and stringers. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N54140
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17274887
- Built
- 1981
- Airframe hours
- 7,103.7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Daniel Mosier, doing business as Plane Folks LLC
- Registered owner
- Nelson E. Daley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 2, 2021 · 11.7 hours before
- Airport
- RYN · Ryan Fld, runway 06L/24R, 4,900 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 50.6 total · 50.6 in this make and model · 6.3 as pilot in command · 17.5 in the last 90 days · 9.5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KRYN, 1 nm away
- METAR
- KRYN 081645Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 28/M07 A2995
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 3, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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.