Flight CTLS N178CT

Summary

On 14 April 2011 at about 12:30 local time, a Flight CTLS registered N178CT, operated by North Florida Flight Training, Inc., was involved in an accident near Jacksonville, 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

14 April 2011 at 12:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Craig Municipal Airport (CRG)

Coordinates

30.3364, -81.5144

Aircraft

Flight CTLS

Registration

N178CT

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

North Florida Flight Training, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jacksonville → Jacksonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11CA254

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, he was performing his second solo flight in the traffic pattern. During the flare on the first landing, the airplane porpoised on the runway, resulting in the nose wheel impacting the runway three times, oscillating harder each time. After the first landing, an air traffic controller contacted the flight school to inform them of the porpoised landing. The student pilot completed three more landings, taxied back to the ramp, and exited the airplane. The first assessment of the airplane revealed no obvious damage, and it was flown two more times before another examination of the airplane by the operator revealed substantial damage to the firewall. According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.