Cessna 172K N7952A

Summary

On 28 November 2011 at about 23:38 local time, a Cessna 172K registered N7952A, operated by Stratus Aviation, LLC, was involved in an accident near Napa, 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.

Date

28 November 2011 at 23:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Napa, California, United States

Nearest airport

Napa County Airport (APC)

Coordinates

38.2089, -122.2797

Aircraft

Cessna 172K

Registration

N7952A

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Stratus Aviation, LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Vacaville → Napa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12CA049

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's improper landing flare, inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, and loss of directional control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot stated that this was his fourth solo flight and that he had accumulated about 2 hours of solo flying experience. He flew to a nearby airport for practice touch-and-go landings and takeoffs and was planning a standard rectangular pattern. As he approached the airfield, a tower air traffic controller instructed him to perform a straight-in approach. This was the student pilot’s first attempt at a straight-in landing, and he had difficulty stabilizing the airplane’s flight path before touchdown. The airplane landed hard, bounced, and departed the left side of the runway. The airplane rolled into muddy terrain, bending the nose wheel landing gear mounting structure and the engine firewall. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.