Cavern City Air Terminal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
Thursday, August 19, 2004 11:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the student pilot, the airplane landed hard on runway 14 and bounced. During the second touch down, the airplane's propeller struck the runway. The student pilot taxied the airplane clear of the runway and shut down the engine. An examination of the airplane revealed that the nose landing gear was displaced aft and the airplane's firewall was buckled. At 1053 and 1153, the reported wind conditions at CNM were, 320 degrees at 11 knots, and 350 degrees at 9 knots, respectively.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's inadequate flare resulting in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the tailwind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/19/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1130
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Carlsbad
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 88220
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Cavern City Air Terminal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CNM
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KCNM
Elevation of weather observation facility 3295
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) 5373
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17136
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Aug 19 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1642
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 27 2005 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albuquerque FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N849SP
NTSB Number DEN04LA127
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172S
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17258757
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 2 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 23.6
Airframe Hours 1644.9
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Great Southwest Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 100 Southwest Way
Aircraft Owner City Roswell
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 88202
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 No
Departure Airport Code HOB
Departure City Hobbs
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1045
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code ROS
Destination City Roswell
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 14L
Runway Length 4615
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --