Cessna 172N accident near Provo, Utah, October 21, 2001
On October 21, 2001 at about 3:45 am local time, a Cessna 172N, registered N5552E, was substantially damaged in an accident near Provo, Utah (Provo Municipal Airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's improper recovery from a bounced landing. Contributing factors were the pilot's lack of total experience in aircraft, and the pilot's lack of recent experience in kind of aircraft.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 21, 2001 · about 3:45 am local time
- Place
- Provo, Utah · Provo Municipal Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172N · all 172Ns on the register
- Registration
- N5552E · registry record · serial 17271887
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
A witness said that he saw the airplane land with a loud "crunching sound." He said the airplane oscillated several times before rolling out to the end of the runway 31. The pilot said that the airplane landed with what seemed a normal bounce, but bounced a second time which seemed harder. He said that after tying the airplane down, he looked for damage, but could not see any due to the dark night light conditions. Postaccident examination revealed that the firewall was bent, stringers in the fuselage underside were bent, the control yoke would not move, and attachment bolts were broken in the nose gear. The pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had approximately 63 hours of total flight experience. He had flown approximately 13 hours during the last 44 months, and he had a flight review endorsement dated June 5, 2001. The pilot had not flown in the previous 4 and 1/2 months prior to the accident flight.
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
What happened, in order
- HARD LANDING during landing
Pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land, none, none, none
- Flight time: 63 hours in all
- Last flight review: June 5, 2001
- Medical certificate: class 2
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,100 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, October 17, 2001; 10 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,550 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-H2AD (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Utah Valley Aviation
- Operating certificate: in the vicinity
The flight
- Departed from: PVU Provo UT at 2:15 am
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 31, 8,599 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: from 150° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 46°C, dew point 34°C
- Altimeter: 30.01 inHg
- Observation at 3:55 am from PVU
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 2 |
Other NTSB records under N5552E the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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 docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site 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 DEN02LA003.