Cessna 172P accident near Wichita, Kansas, May 18, 1999
On May 18, 1999 at about 9:00 pm local time, a Cessna 172P, registered N172YA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Wichita, Kansas (Mid-Continent airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the student pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 18, 1999 · about 9:00 pm local time
- Place
- Wichita, Kansas · Mid-Continent · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172P · all 172Ps on the register
- Registration
- N172YA · registry record · serial 172-75080
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot stated that she was making a full flap landing when the airplane bounced during the flare. The airplane bounced a second time and on the third bounce the nose wheel contacted the runway. The pilot was able to taxi the airplane off the runway to the ramp where the nose gear, propeller, and firewall damage was discovered. She stated that under the same circumstances again, she would perform a go around instead of trying to land the airplane.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 66 hours in all; 20 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days; 1 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,719 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, April 24, 1999; 100 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,400 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ICT
- Destination: ICT
- Flight plan: not recorded
- Runway 19L, 7,302 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 20,000 ft
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 28.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:56 pm from ICT
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CHI99LA168.