Front Range Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Watkins, Colorado 80137
Friday, June 14, 1996 10:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot had a total flight time of about 87 hours. About 17 hours of this flight time was in a Cessna R172K, all of which was dual flight time. On 6/14/96, the student took off on his first solo flight in the Cessna R172K. During his first solo landing in the R172K, the airplane landed hard and was damaged.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

an improper flare by the pilot, which resulted in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/14/1996
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1000
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City WATKINS
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80137
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport FRONT RANGE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FTG
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport 120
Airport Elevation 5512
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1005 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 300
Weather Observation Facility ID FTG
Elevation of weather observation facility 5510
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) 7800
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 255
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 17 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:04AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3814V
NTSB Number FTW96LA256
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 R172K
Aircraft Series Identifier R172K
Aircraft Serial Number R1722264
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 25 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3875
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AURORA AIRCRAFT, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 770 W OXFORD AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City ENGLEWOOD
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80110
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
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 FTG
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 35
Runway Length 8000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --