Cessna 172S N172CY
25 July 2010 · Santa Maria, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 25 July 2010 at about 20:00 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N172CY, operated by Pacific Aerocademy, was involved in an accident near Santa Maria, California, 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.
The record
- Date
- at 20:00
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Santa Maria, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- Santa Maria Public (KSMX)
- Coordinates
- 34.8989, -120.4575
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172S
- Registration
- N172CY
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Pacific Aerocademy
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- San Luis Obispo → Santa Maria
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- WPR10CA475
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate flare which resulted in a bounce and hard landing.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The solo student pilot reported that he made a 40 minute flight to the destination airport in order to meet a family member for lunch. In order to initiate the landing flare, he pulled back on the control yoke, but the airplane's nose pitched up more than he expected. The pilot stated that he corrected for the higher than expected pitch attitude by pushing forward on the yoke, resulting in the airplane's nose wheel being "dropped" onto the runway surface. After contacting the runway surface, the nose wheel porpoised (bounced) one time before contacting the surface a final time. The pilot was ultimately able to stabilize the airplane by applying back pressure to the control yoke. Although he did not become aware of it until he returned to his initial point of departure, the airplane's nose wheel had struck the runway surface with sufficient force to buckle the lower part of the firewall and the forward portion of the floorboard. The propeller had also come in contact with the runway surface. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Cessna 172 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Apr 2010 | Cessna 172N | Poughkeepsie, New York, United States | Cohen Bruce M | No injuries | - |
| 2 Oct 2010 | Cessna 172N | Salem, Oregon, United States | Graham Aviation Services | No injuries | - |
| 7 Mar 2010 | Cessna 172P | Camarillo Airport, California, United States | Channel Islands Aviation Inc | No injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 2010 | Cessna 172 | Portland, Oregon, United States | Snohomish Flying Services | No injuries | - |
| 5 Mar 2010 | Cessna 172 | Poughkeepsie, New York, United States | MacArthur Air Incorporated | No injuries | - |
| 28 Apr 2010 | Cessna 172 | North Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Douglas Hool | No injuries | - |
All 12,209 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Jun 2010 | Grumman Acft Eng Cor-Schweizer G-164B | Courtland, California, United States | Walter Avery | Serious injuries | - |
| 27 Apr 2010 | Piper PA-30 | Merced, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 12 Oct 2010 | Robinson R22 BETA | Long Beach, California, United States | Temco Sky Networks | Serious injuries | - |
| 15 Jun 2010 | Rans COYOTE II S6 | Lincoln, California, United States | Michael S. Gorden | Fatal | 2 |
| 12 Oct 2010 | Boeing A75N1(PT17) | Palm Springs, California, United States | Kent Thomas | No injuries | - |
| 24 Jul 2010 | Bell 206 B II | Big Bear City, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |