- Date
- June 28, 2023, 18:33 UTC
- Place
- Alamogordo, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7881NCessna R172E
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20230628018309A
- Case key
- 193479
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
Failure of the pilot to maintain control of the airplane during the landing.
Findings · 1
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 the landing roll, he felt a shimmy in the front of the airplane. He pulled back on the yoke to lighten the weight on the nose. The shimmy didn’t reduce, so he pulled the yoke back further, which caused the airplane to porpoise and land hard. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the floor and fuselage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7881N
- Reported as
- Cessna R172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R172-0272
- Built
- 1967
- Engine
- Lycoming, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- U S Air Force-Owner
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ALM · Alamogordo/White Sands Regional Wirport, runway 22, 9,207 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 122 total · 24 in this make and model · 46 as pilot in command · 0 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 29, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.0 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.