Cessna 172 N6097G accident near Louisville, Kentucky

Probable cause

The student pilot's improper landing flare, which resulted in a porpoised landing, a subsequent hard landing on grass left of the runway, and a nose-over. Contributing to the accident was the student’s self-imposed pressure to land the airplane

NTSB analysis

The solo student pilot reported that, while in the traffic pattern to land, the flaps would not lower, and he had to move the flap lever up and down several times to troubleshoot. Once on the base leg, he realized that the airplane was faster than normal. On final, he extended the flaps to 30° but felt the airplane was too high and fast. He reduced power to correct, and over the threshold, the airplane encountered a crosswind which pushed the airplane to the left of the runway centerline. He reduced power to idle and pushed the nose down "too quickly." The nose landing gear hit the runway first, the airplane porpoised, and he attempted to pitch the nose up to decrease airspeed. He was then worried that the airplane would aerodynamically stall "too high in the air," so he pitched the nose down. The airplane landed hard in the grass left of the runway, the nose dug into the ground, and the airplane came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he should have added full power and performed a go-around. He added that he felt pressured to land the airplane to "get out of everyone's way."

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA20CA023 for the full record.