Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary NYC03CA192

Franklin, VA, USA

Aircraft #1

N4725B

Cessna 152

Analysis

The student pilot was landing on a 4,977-foot-long, 100-foot-wide, asphalt runway. He stated that everything appeared to progress normally until the point of the flare. At that time, the airplane ballooned and he pushed the nose of the airplane down. The nose wheel struck the runway and collapsed. The student pilot further stated that he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions. He added that the windsock registered little, if any wind.

Factual Information

On September 7, 2003, about 1345 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N4725B, was substantially damaged while landing at the Franklin Municipal Airport (FKN), Franklin, Virginia. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan had been filed for the flight that departed the Chesterfield County Airport (FCI), Richmond, Virginia. The solo instructional flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot stated that he was landing on runway 9, a 4,977-foot-long, 100-foot-wide, asphalt runway. He further stated: "...Everything appeared to progress normally until the point of the flare. The aircraft ballooned at which time I intended to relieved the backpressure to control the balloon. It would appear that I over corrected for the ballooning and pushed the nose of the aircraft down somewhat. The nose wheel hit the runway harder than it could tolerate and collapsed. At that time, the front of the aircraft hit the runway and the aircraft skidded to a stop...." The student pilot said he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions. He added that the windsock registered little, if any wind. The student pilot reported 53 hours of total flight experience, which included about 7 hours as pilot-in-command,

Probable Cause and Findings

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

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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