Event LAX97LA053

Factual narrative

On November 25, 1996, at 1335 hours Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172P, N54686, collided with the runway after a bounced landing at the Van Nuys, California, airport. The aircraft sustained substantial damage; however, neither the designated pilot examiner nor the private pilot applicant was injured. The flight originated in Van Nuys about 1200. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The applicant had made a simulated soft field approach to runway 16R when the aircraft bounced about 5 to 6 feet in the air. He decided to go-around and applied full power, but the aircraft responded by rolling left until its left wing tip drug along the runway. The examiner attempted to take control of the aircraft but was unable to prevent it from again colliding with the runway. During the second impact sequence, the propeller and right wing tip struck the runway and both the nose gear and right main gear collapsed. The aircraft came to rest off the left side of the runway. At the time of the accident a 5-knot, 80-degree left crosswind was reported. According to the aircraft manufacturer, the crosswind component is within the aircraft performance parameters. During a private pilot practical flight test, the applicant (a student pilot) made a simulated soft field approach, and the aircraft bounced 5 to 6 feet in the air after touchdown. The student decided to go-around and applied full power, but the aircraft rolled left and drug its left wing tip. The flight examiner attempted to take control of the aircraft, but was unable to prevent it from again colliding with the runway. At the time of the accident, a 5-knot/80-degree left crosswind was reported. According to the aircraft manufacturer, the crosswind component was within the aircraft performance parameters. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12