Cessna 172P N5460K

Summary

On 3 May 2011 at about 16:20 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N5460K, operated by European Flight Training, was involved in an accident near Fort Pierce, 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

3 May 2011 at 16:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Pierce, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

St. Lucie County International (FPR)

Coordinates

27.4917, -80.3703

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N5460K

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

European Flight Training

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Pierce → Fort Pierce

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11CA283

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's improper flare, 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, who was on his third solo flight, the airplane was stable on the final leg of the traffic pattern. He increased the pitch of the airplane and began to flare when the stall warning horn sounded. The student pilot then released the back pressure on the yoke to decrease pitch before the airplane impacted the runway, causing the nosewheel to bounce and buckle and the right rudder pedal to jam to the right. The airplane then veered off the right side of the runway, coming to rest in a grass apron. During the accident sequence the airplane incurred substantial damage to the firewall. During a subsequent examination of the wreckage, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector found no preexisting anomalies with the airplane, nor did the student pilot report any.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.