Cessna 172P N5495K

Summary

On 27 November 2023 at about 17:20 local time, a Cessna 172P registered N5495K was involved in an accident near Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. 2 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

27 November 2023 at 17:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Las Cruces Intl (LRU)

Coordinates

32.2894, -106.9220

Aircraft

Cessna 172P

Registration

N5495K

Category

Airplane

Year built

1980

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Paso → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24LA058

Nobody was injured.

An encounter with a downdraft during an approach to land, 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

At the time of the accident, the student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight to obtain a private, single engine airplane add-on to his certificate. He reported that during a landing attempt he noted that the approach was stable at a constant airspeed and power setting. The pilot said that at an unknown point in the approach, he experienced a downdraft as he felt “a little push down” and observed a rapid change in his rate of descent. The pilot could not recall at what altitude he encountered the downdraft. The airplane landed hard and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The weather station at the airport reported that the wind was calm at the time of the accident. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that could have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.