Cessna 172P N55437

Summary

On 27 September 2009 at about 12:40 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N55437, operated by Pensacola Navy Flying Club Inc, was involved in an accident near Pensacola, Florida, 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

27 September 2009 at 12:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Pensacola, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Pensacola Regional Airport (PNS)

Coordinates

30.4733, -87.1864

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N55437

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Pensacola Navy Flying Club Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pensacola → Pensacola

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09CA541

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inability to maintain control during landing due to the separation of the nose landing gear upper scissor from the nose gear assembly. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate visual examination performed during the annual inspection.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot stated that he was performing touch-and-go landings prior to the accident. Shortly after his third landing, the airplane veered left and impacted a taxiway sign. The nose landing gear separated from the airframe and resulted in substantial damage to the firewall. Examination of the airplane's nose landing gear by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the upper scissor bolt, cotter pin, and castle nut were missing. Winding tire marks were observed on the runway prior to the airplane veering off the runway. Examination of the airplane found no damage to the nose landing gear scissor flange or nose landing gear scissor. In addition, the upper scissor flange bolt was not recovered, nor was any evidence identified that indicated the bolt was in place at the time of separation. An annual inspection was performed 17 days prior to the accident flight. A visual examination of the nose landing gear was performed, but no maintenance was required to be performed. The airplane accumulated 18 hours of flight time after the annual inspection prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.