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ERA20CA263

2020-07-05 · Prattville, Alabama, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 1A9

Current FAA registration · N173ME

Make / Model
CESSNA 172S
Year of manufacture
2000 · 20 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20000504
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A1256A

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

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

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot had not flown recently and reported that he planned to complete a refresher flight. During the first landing of the flight, on the final approach, the airplane's glide path was "too high and too steep," and he flared the airplane too late. The airplane then landed nosewheel first and bounced twice. The pilot aborted the landing, landed again, then returned to his home airport. Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the fuselage was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not specified

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA20CA263.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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