Event LAX94LA215

Factual narrative

On April 22, 1994, at 1300 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172N, N2946E, landed hard during a short field landing demonstration at the Sedona, Arizona, airport. Subsequent inspection of the aircraft revealed substantial internal structural damage. The aircraft was operated by Aerovision, Inc., of Sedona, Arizona, and was on a local area dual instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. Neither the certificated commercial pilot flight instructor nor the dual primary student were injured. The flight originated at the Sedona airport on the day of the accident at 1230 hours. In his written statement, the flight instructor said he was demonstrating a short field landing to his student on runway 3 with a known tailwind component of 6 to 10 knots. The instructor said that during the flare the expected ground effect cushion was not evident and the aircraft landed hard. The National Transportation Safety Board was notified of the accident on May 10, 1994, by the operator after the extent of the damage was discovered. THE CFI STATED THAT HE WAS DEMONSTRATING A SHORT FIELD LANDING TO HIS STUDENT ON RUNWAY 3 WITH A KNOWN TAILWIND COMPONENT OF 6-10 KTS. DURING FLARE THE EXPECTED GROUND EFFECT CUSHION WAS NOT EVIDENT, AND THE AIRCRAFT LANDED HARD DAMAGING THE FIREWALL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12