Cessna 172N N5552E

Summary

On 21 October 2001 at about 03:45 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N5552E, operated by Utah Valley Aviation, was involved in an accident near Provo, Utah, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 October 2001 at 03:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Provo, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Provo Municipal Airport (PVU)

Coordinates

40.2206, -111.6901

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N5552E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Utah Valley Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Provo → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DEN02LA003

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing. Contributing factors were the pilot's lack of total experience in aircraft, and the pilot's lack of recent experience in kind of aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

A witness said that he saw the airplane land with a loud "crunching sound." He said the airplane oscillated several times before rolling out to the end of the runway 31. The pilot said that the airplane landed with what seemed a normal bounce, but bounced a second time which seemed harder. He said that after tying the airplane down, he looked for damage, but could not see any due to the dark night light conditions. Postaccident examination revealed that the firewall was bent, stringers in the fuselage underside were bent, the control yoke would not move, and attachment bolts were broken in the nose gear. The pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had approximately 63 hours of total flight experience. He had flown approximately 13 hours during the last 44 months, and he had a flight review endorsement dated June 5, 2001. The pilot had not flown in the previous 4 and 1/2 months prior to the accident flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.