Cessna 172S N144ME

Summary

On 7 March 2015 at about 20:18 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N144ME, operated by AV-ED Flight School Inc., was involved in an accident near Richmond, Virginia, 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

7 March 2015 at 20:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Richmond, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Richmond International (RIC)

Coordinates

37.5053, -77.3197

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N144ME

Category

Airplane

Year built

2000

Engines

1

Operator

AV-ED Flight School Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Culpeper → Richmond

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15CA150

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's inadequate landing flare which resulted in a hard landing and substantial damage to the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a full stop landing at an airport on the second leg of a multiple leg cross country flight, the student pilot landed, the airplane bounced, and then touched down again, hard on the nose landing gear. The student pilot then lost directional control, the airplane drifted towards the left side of the runway, and then came to rest. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airplane had incurred substantial damage. The tip of one propeller blade was bent, the nose wheel landing gear tire was flat, the cabin floor was wrinkled, the belly skin of the fuselage was wrinkled, and the firewall was buckled. The student pilot was uninjured, and he advised that he had no mechanical problems prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.