Cessna 172 Landing Accident at Grand Central Aerodrome (ZS-IFW)

Incident Overview and Aircraft Details On 14 October 2007, a Cessna 172 with registration ZS-IFW was involved in an accident at Grand Central Aerodrome in Gauteng, South Africa. The aircraft was operating under a private flight profile, and the pilot-in-command was a student pilot holding a valid student licence. The pilot had a total of 143.25 flying hours, with 7.0 hours on the Cessna 172 type. The flight was a solo local training flight in the general flying area, departing from and intended to land at Grand Central Aerodrome (FAGC). The accident occurred at 0510Z on Runway 35. Weather conditions were fine, with a temperature of 19ºC and variable surface winds at 4 kts. There was one person on board, and no injuries or fatalities were reported. ## Sequence of Events and Investigation Findings The student pilot reported that after approximately one hour of flight, he approached Runway 35 at an indicated airspeed of 80 knots with flaps retracted. Upon touchdown, the aircraft landed heavily and bounced, resulting in a loss of directional control. The pilot stated that he pushed the control stick forward, which exacerbated the situation. The aircraft then impacted the runway with the nose landing gear first, causing the nose gear to collapse. This resulted in damage to the nose section lower surface and the propeller blades. The pilot admitted to using the wrong technique during the landing sequence. The investigator noted that the student pilot also held a valid microlight aeroplane pilot’s licence and was familiar with weight-shift type aircraft. The investigator opined that the pilot used the incorrect method to control the fixed-wing aircraft during the bounce, as the flight controls of fixed-wing aircraft are opposite to those of weight-shift type aircraft. Specifically, pushing the trapeze bar forward on a weight-shift aircraft causes the nose to pitch up, whereas moving the control stick forward on a fixed-wing aircraft causes the nose to pitch down. ## Operational and Maintenance Status The flight training school operating the aircraft held a valid accredited Air Operating Certificate, CAA 0284, which was valid from 13 June 2007 until 26 April 2008. The last mandatory periodic inspection (MPI) prior to the accident was certified on 12 October 2007 at a total of 9,299.5 airframe hours. The aircraft had flown an additional 6.3 hours since that inspection. The accident report was issued on 27 March 2008 and reviewed by the EM office in October 2009.