MIA02LA091

Factual narrative

On April 28, 2002, about 1040 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172S, N786SP, registered to an individual, made a hard landing at the Spruce Creek Airport, Daytona Beach Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. No flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged. The commercial-rated pilot and two passengers reported no injuries. The flight had departed from the same airport at 1010 en route to Palm Beach, Florida. According to the pilot, he taxied onto runway 23, and the airplane responded "as usual and we took off normally." After about 15 minutes of flight and level at 1,000 feet, a passenger wanted to return to the airport because of turbulence below clouds. He entered a left downwind for runway 23, and on short final he placed the flaps at 30 degrees, with an "approach speed of 70 knots." The pilot flared the airplane, landed hard, bounced and then impacted with the runway. He said he touched down on the "main wheels" then assumed a "nose down attitude," and bounced "3 to 4" times on the nose of the aircraft. He retarded the throttle to idle and retracted the flaps. At the end of the runway he noticed that he had "no elevator control." After shutting the engine off he noted that there was propeller damage, 1/2 inch at one tip, and 1 1/2 inches on the other tip. After the accident, examination of the airplane's control surfaces by the FAA and a representative of the aircraft manufacturer revealed the elevators were found stuck in the down position. The trim tab was positioned to the 10-degree tab up position. The elevator electric trim system and auto pilot system functioned without any discrepancies when tested. The flaps were found fully retracted. The firewall displayed impact damage and was found displaced upwards about 2 to 2 1/2 inches. The forward cabin floor was found displaced upwards. The left pilot control column was found jammed within the control yoke guide assembly, hindering fore and aft movement of the control column, but did not effect aileron or rudder travel. There was no damage found to any of the control surfaces or any other part of the cabin structure (See the copy of the Cessna Aircraft's Report, an attachment to this report). According to the pilot, upon landing, he flared the airplane, landed hard on the main landing gear, and bounced 3 to 4 times on the nose of the airplane. At the end of the runway he noticed that he had no elevator control. Examination of the airplane's control surfaces, after the accident revealed the elevators were found stuck in the down position due to impact damage causing the pilot's side control column to jam within the control yoke guide assembly, hindering fore and aft movement of the control column. There was no damage found to any of the control surfaces or any other part of the cabin structure. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12