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Porpoise buckles Cessna

By NTSB · June 24, 2013 ·

Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Grand Forks, N.D. Aircraft damage: Substantial.

What reportedly happened: The student pilot was practicing landings with his flight instructor. The airplane touched down right of the runway centerline and began to bounce.

The student attempted to realign the airplane with the centerline. The bouncing continued with an escalating intensity.

The instructor took the controls with the intention of aborting the landing, but before he could establish a climb the airplane experienced an additional hard landing. The firewall was substantially buckled.

Probable cause: The CFI’s delayed remedial action to the student pilot’s bounced landing and subsequent loss of aircraft control.

NTSB Identification: CEN11LA386

This June 2011 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.

About NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in the other modes of transportation, including railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. It determines the probable causes of accidents and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences.

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Comments

  1. Andre says

    June 25, 2013 at 11:49 pm

    Hello,
    It seems to be a wrong link to CEN11LA386

    NTSB Identification: CEN11LA386
    Accident occurred Monday, June 13, 2011 in Grand Forks, ND

    Would somebody please tell me what CFI means? Chief Flight Instructor?

    • General Aviation News Staff says

      June 26, 2013 at 6:21 am

      CFI means Certificated Flight Instructor. The link seems to be working now.

      • Andre says

        June 26, 2013 at 6:39 am

        Thank you.
        Link is good, it was my fault.

  2. Chuck Raymond says

    June 25, 2013 at 10:29 am

    Hind-site LOL
    After i bounced and bent a nose gear my instructor reminded me to fly the plane to runway and then try to keep it from landing as long as i could as it will quit flying without my added help. Keep it in the middle and maintain a proper glide to maintain proper airspeed to finish the landing. (Ive quit flying 10 feet off ground as well LOL)
    Ive got many 100’s of landings since and never bent anything since. Most passengers usually dont know when we touch down.
    That all goes to Having an Instructor who made me do landings until i got sick of them but i can say it allowed me to become confident after a really bad landing and experience early in my training.
    Ive learned that when i only have 30 minutes to fly at times i just do landings and pattern flight. I feel you cant get enough practice in landings in all conditions.

  3. Tom Korzeniowski says

    June 25, 2013 at 7:30 am

    Happened very early on when I moved up from a Cessna 150 to a 172. Bent the nose wheel, and I did a go-around. I got my instructor to show me what I did wrong, which was to attempt to drive the plane onto the runway rather than go for a full-stall landing. Some lessons come hard. Now, 43 years later, I’ve never bent another airplane (yet). Thanks, Meg, for the memories.

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