Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pensacola Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pensacola, Florida 32504
Sunday, September 27, 2009 7:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot stated that he was performing touch-and-go landings prior to the accident. Shortly after his third landing, the airplane veered left and impacted a taxiway sign. The nose landing gear separated from the airframe and resulted in substantial damage to the firewall. Examination of the airplane's nose landing gear by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the upper scissor bolt, cotter pin, and castle nut were missing. Winding tire marks were observed on the runway prior to the airplane veering off the runway. Examination of the airplane found no damage to the nose landing gear scissor flange or nose landing gear scissor. In addition, the upper scissor flange bolt was not recovered, nor was any evidence identified that indicated the bolt was in place at the time of separation. An annual inspection was performed 17 days prior to the accident flight. A visual examination of the nose landing gear was performed, but no maintenance was required to be performed. The airplane accumulated 18 hours of flight time after the annual inspection prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inability to maintain control during landing due to the separation of the nose landing gear upper scissor from the nose gear assembly. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate visual examination performed during the annual inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/27/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 740 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pensacola |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32504 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 302824N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0871111W |
| Event Location Airport | Pensacola Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PNS |
| 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 | 121 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PNS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 121 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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) | 26294 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2009 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N55437 |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA541 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| 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 | 17275180 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 10 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 6996 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PENSACOLA NAVY FLYING CLUB INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4145 MAYGARDEN BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | PENSACOLA |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32504 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PENSACOLA NAVY FLYING CLUB INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4145 MAYGARDEN BLVD |
| Operator City | PENSACOLA |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32504 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | PNS |
| Departure City | Pensacola |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PNS |
| Destination City | Pensacola |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2009 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | 7004 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |