Cessna 172S N568ND

Summary

On 7 September 2009, a Cessna 172S registered N568ND, operated by University of North Dakota, was involved in an accident near Duluth, Minnesota, 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

7 September 2009

Classification

Accident

Location

Duluth, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Unknown

Coordinates

46.8369, -92.1796

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N568ND

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

University of North Dakota

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Forks → Grand Forks

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09LA586

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during landing, resulting in a hard landing and a propeller strike with the ground.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a solo cross-country flight, the private pilot landed and shut down the airplane at two airports before returning to the initial airport of departure. During refueling after the end of the entire cross-country flight, a lineman noticed that the propeller tip was bent aft. He notified dispatch immediately, and dispatch reported that the damage had not been reported by anyone. During the maintenance turnaround of the airplane, the engine firewall was also found to be damaged. The private pilot was contacted later and indicated that all three landings of the cross-country flight were normal, and he did not know when the damage occurred. However, he reported that he ballooned during the first landing. He also reported that prior to departing from the second airport, he taxied over a rough area and heard a "bing." He reported feeling a vibration in the airplane during the final leg of the cross-country flight. An instructor pilot who had flown in the airplane prior to the solo cross-country flight stated that he was confident that no hard landing damage had occurred on that previous instruction flight. The damage to the firewall and the propeller is consistent with a hard landing during one of the legs of the solo cross-country flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.