Cessna 172M N696PT

Summary

On 3 November 2014 at about 17:15 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N696PT, operated by Pilot Training Center LLC, was involved in an accident near Everglades City, Florida, United States. 3 people were 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 November 2014 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Everglades City, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Everglades Airpark (X01)

Coordinates

25.8489, -81.3903

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N696PT

Category

Airplane

Year built

1975

Engines

1

Operator

Pilot Training Center LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Miami → Everglades City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15CA042

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to compensate for gusting wind conditions during the flare, and the flight instructor's failure to intervene in a timely manner, resulting in a loss of airplane control and hard landing off of the runway.

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 a full stop landing from the left seat with his instructor in the right seat. During the flare, a sudden gust of wind "pushed the airplane to the left" and the instructor took the controls. The instructor pilot also reported that a sudden, heavy gust of wind was encountered, and the airplane "started ballooning up" and turned "drastically" to the left. The instructor attempted a go-around; however, the airplane was already at low altitude and it collided with the ground. The airplane impacted hard on the grassy area adjacent to the runway, breaking off the nose gear. Federal Aviation Administration inspectors reported that substantial damage resulted to the airframe's left and right wings. The instructor pilot reported that there were no mechanical problems with the airplane at the time of the accident. Although there was no weather reporting capability at the landing airport, gusting wind conditions were reported about 18 miles to the northwest.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.