- Date
- November 27, 2023, 10:20 local (17:20 UTC)
- Place
- Las Cruces, NM
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5495KCessna 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
- Federal Aviation Adminstration
- FAA report
- 20231127021579A
- Case key
- 193539
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
An encounter with a downdraft during an approach to land, 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
At the time of the accident, the student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight to obtain a private, single engine airplane add-on to his certificate. He reported that during a landing attempt he noted that the approach was stable at a constant airspeed and power setting. The pilot said that at an unknown point in the approach, he experienced a downdraft as he felt “a little push down” and observed a rapid change in his rate of descent. The pilot could not recall at what altitude he encountered the downdraft. The airplane landed hard and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The weather station at the airport reported that the wind was calm at the time of the accident. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that could have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5495K
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17274160
- Built
- 1980
- Airframe hours
- 12,530
- Engine
- Lycoming Engines O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bell Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 3, 2023 · 98.3 hours before
- Departed
- ELP · El Paso, TX
- Airport
- LRU · Las Cruces Intl, runway 08, 6,069 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, 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
- Certificates
- Student, Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- November 27, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,158 total · 32 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- KLRU
- METAR
- METAR KLRU 271715Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 07/M05 A3027 RMK AO2 T00701048=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 1, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 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.
Other investigations on N5495K · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.