Cessna 172N accident near Casper, Wyoming, October 7, 2004
On October 7, 2004 at about 7:35 pm local time, a Cessna 172N, registered N73764, was substantially damaged in an accident near Casper, Wyoming (Natrona International airport). It was a personal 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).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the student pilot's improper flare resulting in a hard landing. A factor contributing to the accident was the student pilot's improper recovery from the bounced landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made September 29, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 7, 2004 · about 7:35 pm local time
- Place
- Casper, Wyoming · Natrona International · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172N · all 172Ns on the register
- Registration
- N73764 · registry record · serial 17267661
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The solo student pilot was performing her fourth touch-and-go landing when she allowed the airplane to touchdown hard on the runway. The pilot said everything was fine until she got into the flare. She said that she felt she was going to float so she "put in some power." She said she felt she had things under control, so she reduced the throttle to idle. When the airplane touched down, it bounced. The pilot said she released a little back pressure. "The second time it [the airplane] came back to the ground, it bounced hard, and this time I think the propeller hit. It bounced hard 3 or 4 times after that. Back and forth." The pilot said she finally got the airplane stopped. She contacted the tower and received permission to taxi back to the ramp. An inspection of the airplane showed substantial damage to the firewall, and minor damage to the nose gear and propeller. No other anomalies were found.
The NTSB's narratives can run to many pages; this is the opening. Read the full report at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database and is rewritten in plain English only where the NTSB used codes; the probable cause and narrative are the NTSB's own words. 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 DEN05LA005.