Martin State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Baltimore, Maryland 21220
Monday, September 4, 2006 16:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the landing flare, the airplane "ballooned up a little," and then landed hard. The student pilot then performed four more landings, before taxiing the airplane to the hangar without further incident. The pilot stated that no damage was evident during the post-flight examination of the airplane. A subsequent examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed a misaligned nose gear assembly, a buckled firewall, buckled fuselage flooring, and a buckled left wing outboard of the wing spar.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/4/2006
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Baltimore
Event State MARYLAND
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 21220
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 391932N
Event Location Longitude 0762449W
Event Location Airport Martin State Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KMTN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 22
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1559 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KMTN
Elevation of weather observation facility 22
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.87
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) 20806
NTSB Notification Source Baltimore FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Sep 12 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2006 9:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Baltimore FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N65659
NTSB Number NYC06CA221
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 172P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17275805
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 Phoenix Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Baltimore
Aircraft Owner State MD
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 21220
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code KMTN
Departure City Baltimore
Departure State MD
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code KMTN
Destination City Baltimore
Destination State MD
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 27 2006 6:37PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 6996
Runway Width 180
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --