On 3 May 2011, a CESSNA 172P operated by ARI BEN AVIATOR INC was involved in an aviation accident near Stuart, FL. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The student pilot did not flare the airplane properly, which resulted in a hard landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 17 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
A student pilot's failure to flare properly caused a hard landing, nose gear collision, and subsequent discovery of a bent propeller blade tip and buckled engine firewall.
Incident Overview
A student pilot reported that he did not flare the airplane correctly during landing, resulting in a hard impact. The nose landing gear struck the runway. After the hard touchdown, the pilot executed a go-around and subsequently landed without further incident.
Post-Flight Findings
Another pilot later flew the same airplane but returned it early after noticing a "different sound in engine noise." Upon inspection, that pilot observed that one propeller blade tip was bent. Company maintenance personnel conducted a further examination and discovered that the engine firewall was buckled.
Probable cause
The student pilot did not flare the airplane properly, which resulted in a hard landing.