Cessna 172R N429FF

Summary

On 30 April 2010 at about 19:00 local time, a Cessna 172R registered N429FF, operated by Langley Aero Club, was involved in an accident near Hampton, Virginia, United States. One person was 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

30 April 2010 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Hampton, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Langley Air Force Base (LFI)

Coordinates

37.0764, -76.3564

Aircraft

Cessna 172R

Registration

N429FF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Langley Aero Club

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Suffolk → Hampton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10CA512

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's inadequate landing flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing. Contributing to the accident was the student’s decision to land with a tailwind.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was landing at his home airport at the conclusion of a solo cross-country flight. He stated that when he contacted the air traffic control tower he was offered the option of runway 8, which had a tailwind, or 26, which had a crosswind. He stated that he wrongly chose to land on runway 8. During the landing flare, the airplane bounced and the nose landing gear impacted the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the engine firewall. The student pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane. At the time of the accident, the wind was from 230 degrees at 11 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.