Cessna 172M N1377U

Summary

On 1 May 2024 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N1377U was involved in an accident near Westminster, Maryland, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 May 2024 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Westminster, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Carroll County Rgnl/Jack B Poa (DMW)

Coordinates

39.0000, -77.0000

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N1377U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gaithersburg → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA204

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to attain a proper touchdown point during a simulated loss of engine power approach, which resulted in a hard landing short of the runway. Also causal was the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action during the approach and subsequent aborted landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the private pilot were practicing a simulated loss of engine power in the airport traffic pattern as part of the private pilot’s flight review. On base leg, the private pilot added 20 degrees of flaps. The flight instructor told the private pilot that he should wait to extend the flaps until he was sure that the airplane would be able to reach the runway, and the private pilot responded that he would be able to reach the runway. The flight instructor did not correct the pilot’s actions and continued with the approach. As the airplane descended on final approach, the airspeed decreased to 60 knots, and the flight instructor realized that the airplane would not be able to reach the runway. A review of airport surveillance video revealed the airplane touched down hard short of the runway surface, bounced, before the engine power increased. The instructor stated that he told the private pilot to go-around, and that the private pilot added full power, carburetor heat, and brought the flaps to 10 degrees. The airplane began to climb, turned to the left, and was in a nose-high pitch attitude. The flight instructor took control of the airplane and attempted to apply remedial control inputs, but they were not effective. The surveillance video showed that after a brief climb low speed climb, the airplane was in a nose-high pitch, left wing low attitude before it descended to ground contact. The airplane subsequently nosed over and the left-wing strut, fuselage, and empennage were substantially damaged. The flight instructor reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.