Cessna 172R N974BC

Summary

On 20 October 2012 at about 11:15 local time, a Cessna 172R registered N974BC, operated by ADF Airways, was involved in an accident near Miami, Florida, United States. 2 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

20 October 2012 at 11:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Miami, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Kendall Tamiami (TMB)

Coordinates

25.6419, -80.4264

Aircraft

Cessna 172R

Registration

N974BC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

ADF Airways

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Miami → Miami

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13CA044

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's improper power management during a steep, obstacle-clearance approach, which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the flight instructor, he was demonstrating to a student pilot the technique required to land the airplane on a short runway over a 50-foot obstacle. About 50 feet over the runway, at an airspeed of 60 knots, with flaps fully deployed, the instructor reduced the throttle to idle and pitched the nose down to "increase airspeed" and flare the airplane before touchdown. Immediately after reducing the engine power to idle, the airplane "sunk," and the instructor responded with a full throttle application. However, the airplane was "too close to the ground," and the engine did not respond in time to prevent a hard landing, which resulted in substantial damage to the engine firewall. The instructor reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.