Cessna 172 N7095G accident near Lumberton, New Jersey

Probable cause

The pilot's hard landing, resulting in a runway excursion and substantial damage to the firewall.

NTSB analysis

The pilot reported that during landing, the main landing gear touched down first, followed by the nose landing gear. He reported that the nose landing gear tire deflated upon contact with the runway surface. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the pilot stated that the main landing gear touched down at airspeed of about 40 knots, and the airplane rolled to the right side of the runway and came to rest about 5 feet from the edge of the runway.

The Airframe and Powerplant mechanic that recovered the airplane reported that the nose landing gear wheel was broken in half and damage was sustained to the upper and lower firewall on both the pilot and copilot sides.

According to the manufacturer's pilot operating handbook:

The stall airspeed for this airplane with flaps down, power off is 49 knots.

The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies with any portion of the airplane prior to touch down that would have prevented normal flight operations.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA16CA340 for the full record.