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ERA14CA230

2014-05-09 · Deland, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DED

N493ER has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 172S, built 2019), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during the landing, and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the student pilot resulting in abnormal runway contact and damage to the airplane.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor and the student pilot were practicing short field landings. Following an uneventful first landing, the airplane approached the runway for a second. While on the short final leg of the approach to the runway, the airplane began sinking rapidly. The flight instructor responded by advising the student, "full power." The student pilot thought the flight instructor had said, "pull power," and subsequently reduced engine power to idle. The airplane impacted the runway and bounced back into the air. The flight instructor then took control of the airplane and aborted the landing. Subsequent inspection of the airplane by maintenance personnel revealed that the nose landing gear and engine firewall had been substantially damaged during the landing. Following the accident, the operator reemphasized to their flight instructors the importance of utilizing standard phraseology during training flights, including use of the phrase "go around" to indicate the necessity to abort a landing. The flight instructor and the student pilot were practicing short field landings. Following an uneventful first landing, the airplane approached the runway for a second. While on the short final leg of the approach to the runway, the airplane began sinking rapidly. The flight instructor responded by advising the student, "full power." The student pilot thought the flight instructor had said, "pull power," and subsequently reduced engine power to idle. The airplane impacted the runway and bounced back into the air. The flight instructor then took control of the airplane and aborted the landing. Subsequent inspection of the airplane by maintenance personnel revealed that the nose landing gear and engine firewall had been substantially damaged during the landing. Following the accident, the operator reemphasized to their flight instructors the importance of utilizing standard phraseology during training flights, including use of the phrase "go around" to indicate the necessity to abort a landing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring other person-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Communication (personnel)-Common phraseology-Instructor/check pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_ERA14CA230.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, maintenance). All research papers