Accident Overview
On April 19, 2008, at approximately 1625 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172R, registration N2384L, experienced a hard landing at Lake Tahoe Airport in South Lake Tahoe, California. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and three passengers were not injured. The aircraft was registered to Sterling Flight LLC of Concord, California, and the pilot had rented it from the operator. The flight departed Concord around 1445, with the intended destination being South Lake Tahoe. 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.
Pilot Report
The pilot reported gusty winds during the first attempted landing on runway 18. He executed a 360-degree turn to attempt a second approach. During the second approach, he observed "severely decreasing engine performance and gusty winds." The pilot performed another 360-degree turn to abort the landing and divert from the airport, but the airplane was unable to climb. He then 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." Following the landing, maintenance found that the nose-wheel tire bead had separated from its rim due to age and wear. While replacing the tire, a mechanic noted unrelated damage to the firewall and underbelly. The pilot expressed his belief that the landing was not significant enough to have caused the observed damage.
Witness Account
A witness, an employee of the fixed base operator, stated that she heard the pilot announce his intention to land on the Unicom radio. Because it was "very windy that day," she went outside to watch the landing and observed the airplane "circle twice before heading out of sight to the east." She assumed the pilot decided not to land and went back inside. Shortly thereafter, she saw the airplane on the runway. After parking, the pilot came into the building and told her the airplane had a flat tire and needed repair. The witness mentioned she had seen him circle and leave; the pilot replied 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 said "he bounced once before he was able to land" the airplane.
Damage Examination
An FAA inspector examined the airplane and found the engine firewall wrinkled, the belly skin immediately aft of the firewall deformed, and the nose landing gear strut bent approximately 8 degrees to the left of center. A mechanic called on April 20, 2008, noted the nose tire and tube were flat and partially separated from the nose wheel assembly. After installing a new inner tube and serviceable tire, he removed the engine cowling to service the nose gear strut and discovered "extensive damage to the lower firewall and that the nose gear structural support at the firewall was bent." Additionally, the center tunnel structure and belly skin extending about 12 inches aft from the firewall were damaged. The mechanic placed a placard on the control yoke indicating the aircraft was grounded due to damage and notified the pilot. He stated that after finding the damage, both the pilot and fixed base operator staff told him the airplane had made a hard landing upon arrival the previous day.
Weather Conditions
Reported winds at Lake Tahoe Airport at 1353 were from 210 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 30 knots, and at 1453 from 210 degrees at 19 knots gusting to 33 knots. The airport is located in mountainous terrain at an elevation of 6,294 feet. Using a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius and an altimeter setting of 29.74 inches from the 1453 observation, the calculated density altitude was 6,955 feet.