Essex County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Caldwell, New Jersey 07006
Thursday, July 28, 2005 16:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was "too high" and "too fast" during final approach to the runway, and initiated a go-around. As he applied full power, he noticed that the noise of the engine did not seem to accelerate, and the engine rpm began to decrease. He then prepared for a forced landing to the grass beyond the departure end of the runway. During the landing, the airplane "hit hard" on the right main landing gear. Examination of the engine revealed no mechanical deficiencies, and the student pilot reported 45 hours of total flight experience, all of which were in the accident airplane make and model.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing. A factor was a partial loss of engine power, as reported by the pilot, for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/28/2005
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1620
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Caldwell
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 07006
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 405230N
Event Location Longitude 0741652W
Event Location Airport Essex County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CDW
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 173
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID CDW
Elevation of weather observation facility 173
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 19775
NTSB Notification Source FAA EROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 28 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2006 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Teterboro FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N98730
NTSB Number NYC05LA125
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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 172P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17276340
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MD Aeronautical Corp
Aircraft Owner Street Address 27 Wright Way
Aircraft Owner City Fairfield
Aircraft Owner State NJ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 07004
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Mac Dan Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code CDW
Departure City Caldwell
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1610
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code CDW
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 20 2006 8:10AM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22
Runway Length 4553
Runway Width 80
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --