Cessna C172N N733BS

Summary

On 25 August 2007 at about 15:00 local time, a Cessna C172N registered N733BS, operated by Manassas Aviation Center, Inc, was involved in an accident near Manassas, Virginia, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 August 2007 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Manassas, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Manassas Regional (HEF)

Coordinates

38.7194, -77.5092

Aircraft

Cessna C172N

Registration

N733BS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Manassas Aviation Center, Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Manassas → Manassas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL07CA132

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to correct for a pilot-induced oscillation/porpoise, during flare/touchdown, which resulted in a hard landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the student pilot's certified flight instructor (CFI), the student pilot was training under the United Stated Marine Corps Introductory Flight Screening Program, prior to attending the Naval Flight School at Pensacola, Florida. The student pilot reported to the CFI that he was making his third solo flight, in the traffic pattern and that the airplane bounced several times while he was attempting to land and that he had landed hard on the nose wheel, busting the tire. Inspection of the airplane revealed the tire had burst, the nose gear wheel was broken and the propeller had struck the runway. A Chief CFI at another flight school on the field advised that he had observed the incident. He stated that the student porpoised several times, making no apparent attempt to recover. The student pilot left the airport and returned to his barracks at Quantico. He met with the administrators of the Introductory Flight Screening program and advised them that he had been nervous during all flights and had decided flying was not for him. He dropped himself from the program. On October 2, 2007, further inspection of the airplane revealed that there was damage to the airplane's firewall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.