NTSB Factual Report

On June 11, 2005, about 1900 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172R, N2384L, made a hard landing at Santa Maria Public Airport/Capt G Allan Hancock Field (SMX), Santa Maria, California. Pigs Can Fly Aviation, LLC (PCF Aviation), was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The cross-country instructional flight departed San Luis County Regional Airport, San Luis Obispo, California, with a planned destination of Santa Maria. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed.

The operator submitted a Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2). The pilot was unable to be contacted and his certified flight instructor (CFI) submitted a written statement. In his statement, the CFI stated that he had given instruction to his student about landing at Santa Maria, and that the runway environment was familiar to his student. When he picked up his student after the accident, his student told him that he had landed flat, but the landing was not as hard as some of his past landings. After touching down, the airplane bounced up and porpoised. The pilot added power and then came down hard. He noticed that the tire was flat and exited the runway at a taxiway. He said he did not know that the propeller struck the runway until someone told him. The hard landing damaged the firewall. The operator stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.

NTSB Probable Cause

the student pilot's improper flare and recovery from a bounced landing.