Cessna 172N N739RU

Summary

On 31 August 2011 at about 20:30 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N739RU, operated by Alpha One Flight Service, was involved in an accident near Plymouth, Massachusetts, 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

31 August 2011 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Plymouth Municipal Airport (PYM)

Coordinates

41.9089, -70.7286

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N739RU

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Alpha One Flight Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Plymouth → Plymouth

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11LA489

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the intent of the flight was to perform practice takeoffs and landings. During the first takeoff roll, she noticed that the control column required forward pressure to prevent the airplane from prematurely rotating. The pilot further reported that she was not concerned about the controllability of the airplane, elected not to abort the takeoff, and continued around the traffic pattern. During the landing flare, she was unable to pull back on the control column, and the airplane bounced several times. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any discrepancies that would have interfered with movement of the control column or operation of the elevator and elevator trim controls. Additionally, the operator reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal flight operations of the airplane. It is likely that the pilot did not arrest the airplane’s descent rate, resulting in a bounced landing, and then allowed the airplane to porpoise.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.