On April 19, 2008, about 1625 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172R, N2384L, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing at Lake Tahoe Airport, South Lake Tahoe, California. The private pilot and his three passengers were not injured. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, Sterling Flight LLC, Concord, California. The pilot rented the airplane from the operator. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal cross-country flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Concord about 1445, and the intended destination was South Lake Tahoe.
The pilot reported that the flight experienced gusty winds during his first attempted landing on runway 18. He executed a 360-degree turn to attempt a second approach. During the second approach, he noticed "severely decreasing engine performance and gusty winds." The pilot executed another 360-degree turn in order to abort the landing and divert away from the airport. However, the airplane was unable to climb, and he landed on runway 18. The pilot stated that upon landing, "the nose of the aircraft pulled erratically but the landing terminated normally and unassisted taxi was performed." The pilot further stated that "following landing it was noted by maintenance that the nose-wheel tire bead had separated from its rim, due to age and wear." During replacement of the tire, a mechanic "noted unrelated damage" to the firewall and underbelly of the airplane. The pilot expressed the belief that his landing "was not significant enough to have caused the stated damage."
Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the engine firewall was wrinkled, the skin on the belly of the airplane immediately aft of the firewall was deformed, and the nose landing gear strut was bent towards the left about 8 degrees from center.
A witness, who was an employee of the fixed base operator at the airport, stated that she heard the pilot announce his intention to land on the Unicom radio. As it was "very windy that day," she proceeded outside to watch the landing and observed the airplane "circle twice before heading out of sight to the east." She assumed the pilot had decided not to land and went back inside. A short time later, she saw the airplane on the runway. After parking the airplane, the pilot came into the building. The pilot told her that the airplane had a flat tire and he needed someone to repair it. The witness told the pilot that she had seen him circle and then leave the area, and the pilot said that "he was going to leave and continued to circle but could not gain any altitude to get out so had no choice but to come in." The pilot also told her that "he bounced once before he was able to land" the airplane.
A mechanic reported that he was called by the fixed base operator and told that one of their customer's airplanes had a flat nose wheel tire and required maintenance. He arrived at the airport on April 20, 2008, and noted the airplane's nose tire and tube were flat and partially separated from the nose wheel assembly. The mechanic installed a new inner tube and serviceable tire. He then removed the airplane's upper engine cowling in order to service the nose landing gear strut. At this time, he noticed "extensive damage to the lower firewall and that the nose gear structural support at the firewall was bent." Additionally, he noted damage to the center tunnel structure and belly skin extending aft from the firewall about 12 inches. The mechanic placed a placard on the control yoke stating "AIRCRAFT GROUNDED, DO NOT FLY, DAMAGE TO FIREWALL AND NOSE GEAR STRUCTURE" and notified the pilot of his findings. The mechanic stated that after he found and reported the damage, both the pilot and fixed base operator staff told him that the airplane "had made a hard landing upon arrival" the previous day.
Reported winds at Lake Tahoe Airport at 1353 and 1453 were from 210 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 30 knots, and from 210 degrees at 19 knots gusting to 33 knots, respectively. The airport is located in mountainous terrain at an elevation of 6,294 feet. Using the temperature of 7 degrees Celsius and the altimeter setting of 29.74 inches from the 1453 weather observation, the calculated density altitude was 6,955 feet.
The operator stated that this accident could have been prevented by "revised dispatch procedures for aircraft traveling to mountainous areas in adverse wind" and "restrictions on what type of aircraft can fly to high density altitude airports."