Pensacola Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pensacola, Florida 32504
Thursday, August 20, 2009 9:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While conducting practice landings and takeoffs, the student pilot landed hard, which resulted in a cut nose wheel, a damaged nose strut, and wrinkling of the firewall. The student pilot did not report the damage to officials from the flying club that operated the airplane. The damage was discovered during a maintenance inspection. The student pilot subsequently left the flying club and did not respond to the club's emails or telephone messages. Two other student pilots and their flight instructor confirmed that during the three previous flights, they noted no damage to the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

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

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/20/2009
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 900
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 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 302825N
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 --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PNS
Elevation of weather observation facility 112
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 25
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
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) 27454
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 3 2010 10:08AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N64344
NTSB Number ERA09LA549
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 17275548
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 1
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 20 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 7977
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PENSACOLA NAVY FLYING CLUB INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO BOX 15519
Aircraft Owner City PENSACOLA
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32514-0519
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 PO BOX 15519
Operator City PENSACOLA
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32514-0519
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 900
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
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 3 2010 10:09AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 7004
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --