2 Jul 2018: Cessna 172 P

2 Jul 2018: Cessna 172 P — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Troy, MI, United States

Probable cause

The student pilot’s failure to maintain a proper landing flare, which resulted in a hard, porpoised landing during an aborted go-around.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The solo student pilot reported that during landing, the airplane slowed, and the stall warning sounded as the main landing gear contacted the runway. He added that, it appeared that the airplane had landed, but he then observed the nose drop below the horizon. He added power to go around, but the nose wheel impacted the runway and the airplane pitched "rearward". Subsequently, the airplane porpoised, the nose landing gear strut collapsed, and he aborted the go around. The student taxied the airplane to park without further incident.

The flight instructor reported that, he witnessed that the airplane on approach was a little flat but did not appear to be unstable. The student then pitched the airplane for the numbers, the airplane floated down the runway, and touched down in a flat attitude. Subsequently, the airplane bounced 2 to 3 ft in the air, porpoised, and the student was then able to taxi from the runway. The flight instructor added that, the student was too late on his flare and all of the energy came down on the nose wheel.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.

The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The automated weather observation system at the accident airport reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 250° at 7 knots. The student pilot landed on runway 27.

Contributing factors

  • cause Landing flare — Not attained/maintained
  • cause Student/instructed pilot

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 250/07kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.