Cessna 152 N4922P

Summary

On 23 August 2013 at about 14:34 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N4922P, operated by Patuxent River Navy Flying Club, was involved in an accident near Easton, Maryland, 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

23 August 2013 at 14:34

Classification

Accident

Location

Easton, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Easton/Newman Field (ESN)

Coordinates

38.7972, -76.0719

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N4922P

Category

Airplane

Year built

1981

Engines

1

Operator

Patuxent River Navy Flying Club

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Patuxent River → Easton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA379

Nobody was injured.

The use of an improper nose landing gear through bolt, which decreased the overall strength of the gear and resulted in overload failure during a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's inadequate landing flare, which resulted in the hard landing.

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 the first of two intended stops on the solo cross-country flight. She stated that she felt the main landing gear touch down on the runway first, followed by the nose landing gear. The airplane bounced, and the student pilot subsequently observed the airplane's nosewheel rolling down the runway in front of the airplane. The airplane settled back onto the runway and came to rest upright. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall. An air traffic controller who observed the landing stated that the airplane touched down, porpoised, and bounced twice before impacting the runway at what appeared to be a steep angle. Postaccident examination revealed that the nosewheel exhibited impact damage to the rim. Postaccident examination of the nose landing gear assembly revealed that the landing gear through bolt had fractured in shear overload. Further examination revealed that the bolt measured 5/16 inch in diameter. However, the bolt manufacturer specified that a 7/16-inch-diameter bolt should be used. Review of maintenance records could not determine when the 5/16-inch bolt was installed or how many hours of operation the airplane had accrued since the installation. Additionally, the bolt head was not recovered, and it could not be determined if the 5/16-inch bolt installed on the airplane met standard aircraft specifications. Generally, a 5/16-inch bolt would be expected to have half of the shear strength rating of a 7/16-inch bolt.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.