St. Lucie County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ft Pierce, Florida 34982
Tuesady, April 12, 2011 9:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was on a solo cross country flight with the intention of landing at two different local airports before returning to the flight academy base. While landing at her first planned stop, the airplane porpoised twice after touchdown. The student pilot stated that her airspeed was low on final approach and that she did not flare. After the full stop landing, she taxied back to the runway and took off again to fly to her next planned stop. After she landed the airplane at her second stop, the flight academy sent two flight instructors to recover the airplane and student. While conducting a preflight of the airplane to return to the academy, the instructors discovered substantial damage to the firewall.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

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

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/12/2011
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 910
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Ft Pierce
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34982
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 272950N
Event Location Longitude 0802221W
Event Location Airport St. Lucie County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KFPR
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 24
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 28438
NTSB Notification Source Operator
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 12 2011 9:05AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N702GR
NTSB Number ERA11CA241
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 172
Aircraft Series Identifier R
Aircraft Serial Number 17280558
Certified Max Gross Weight 2558
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4905
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Dolphin Leasing
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Daytona Beach
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32114
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Dolphin Leasing
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Daytona Beach
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 32114
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 No
Departure Airport Code KDAB
Departure City Daytona Beach
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 712
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KDAB
Destination City Daytona Beach
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 9 2011 12:33PM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 10R
Runway Length 6492
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --