NTSB Factual Report

On August 27, 2001, at 1145 eastern daylight time, a Cessna R172K, N758BW, registered to Valdosta Flying Service, Inc., of Valdosta, Georgia, landed hard on the runway during a simulated emergency landing at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia. The instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and neither the certificated flight instructor nor the dual student reported injuries. The flight first departed Valdosta at 1115 and conducted several approaches and emergency procedures in the traffic pattern.

Prior to the accident, the flight instructor briefed the dual student on the proper procedures for a short-field landing, as well as for recovery from an engine failure on takeoff. The flight instructor and dual student completed a short-field landing to a complete stop and informed the tower their intentions to execute a takeoff with a simulated emergency landing to immediately follow. The flight instructor stated the student agreed the instructor "would maintain priority on the controls," and the student would follow. The instructor set the flaps to 10 degrees for takeoff and climbed the airplane at 60 knots. At 150 feet above ground level (AGL), the flight instructor announced a power reduction and reduced the throttle to idle to simulate an engine failure. The flight instructor and student reported pitching the airplane in a nose-low attitude to maintain airspeed. The student stated, "We nosed the plane over into a dive, and I experienced 0 g's. We were then at a dive at the runway and pulled back on the yoke at approximately 50 feet of altitude. I did not notice the aircraft come out of the dive like I expected it to, so I pulled back on the yoke some more (I was now actively back on the controls with [the flight instructor])." During the attempted flare, the airplane struck the runway. The dual student stated the airplane "impacted the runway in a nose-forward attitude." The flight instructor stated "the left main touched first, buckling slightly then shifted forward, collapsing the nose gear."

Examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction. Damage sustained in the accident included: Approximately 12 inches of the propeller tip was curled back toward the rear of the airplane. The nose gear wheel was displaced upward under the engine and right of center, and the top section of the nose strut was displaced upward against the firewall bottom, and the firewall was damaged. The nose wheel pant was found in pieces on the runway. The fuselage bottom was damaged immediately aft of the firewall on the bottom and both sides back to the baggage door. The rudder pedals in the area of the right side forward floor were pushed in toward the cabin. The center console under the instrument panel was buckled, and a piece of the support structure was protruding through the plastic by the cowl flap indicator and angled toward the right side. The forward cabin side panels and floor showed evidence of stress, and the left door of the airplane could not be closed. The left main gear was bent, and the wheel assembly was angled inward.

NTSB Probable Cause

The flight instructor's improper flare of the airplane, which resulted in a hard landing. Factors were the dual student's failure to relinquish control of the airplane and the dual student's interference on the flight controls.