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while he discussed the situation via
Unicom with people on the ground.
Th e pilot then landed the damaged
aircraft in the grass next to the runway.
Th e right wing and horizontal
stabilizer struck the ground and
the airplane veered to the right and
came to a stop.
Th e pilot, the sole occupant of the
aircraft, was uninjured. Th e right
main landing gear strut was bent up
and touching the right side of the
fuselage. Th e right horizontal stabilizer
was bent upwards at mid-span.
Presumably, there was also damage
to the right wing where it contacted
the ground during the fi nal landing.
Th e NTSB report of this accident
indicates that the Cessna 172 fi rst
touched down more than 1,000 feet
beyond the (displaced) approach
threshold. Marks on the runway in-
dicate heavy braking 2,000 feet past
the threshold. Th e airplane left the
runway 500 feet later and then hit a
runway sign 100 feet beyond where
it left the paved surface. Th ere was
still enough energy left during the
collision to severely damage the
landing gear and then to get the airplane
fl ying again fairly quickly after
the go-around was initiated.
Th e operating handbook for most
Cessna 172 models lists the ground
roll distance around 560 feet. During
this landing, this Cessna seems
to have consumed about three times
that much pavement and 100 feet
of grass, with the brakes locked and
tires screeching for almost half of it.
After that ground roll, the airplane
must have still been traveling 25 to
30 knots, allowing a quick go around
on broken landing gear. What must
this pilot’s approach and touchdown
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speeds have been? Certainly they
were far higher than the 63 to 68
knots recommended in the operating
handbook.
In the aviation insurance business,
we see many losses associated with
poor energy management techniques.
Stall/spins, runway overruns,
bounced landings, and loss of
control accidents lead to millions of
dollars of hull insurance payouts every
year. As new high performance
personal and corporate airplanes become
more and more automated and
advanced, better equipped, and better
performing, it is more important
than ever to train and be profi cient
in the basics of putting an airplane
in the proper point in space at the
right time and at the right speed.
I speak to aviation underwriters frequently
about underwriting trends
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