Fairbanks International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Wednesday, May 1, 1996 18:00 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor and student were practicing soft field landings. The instructor stated that the student flared the airplane too high during a landing, The airplane landed hard on all three wheels simultaneously. After the flight's termination, the student performed the post flight walk around inspection. The instructor did not perform the walk around with the student. The next flight instructor, during the taxi/run up, found that the flight controls would not move through their entire range of travel. Subsequent examination of the airplane showed that the firewall was bent and restricted the forward motion of the control yoke.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's premature flare and the flight instructor's failure to perform remedial action prior to the hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/1/1996
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone --
Event City FAIRBANKS
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99701
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FAI
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 434
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 90
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 843
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 20 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1400
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 9:59AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3795L
NTSB Number ANC96LA074
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172
Aircraft Series Identifier 172
Aircraft Serial Number 17253964
Certified Max Gross Weight 2220
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SMITH AERO SERVICES
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4230 UNIVERSITY AVE, SOUTH
Aircraft Owner City FAIRBANKS
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99709
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code SM9V
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code FAI
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --