Cessna 172M accident near Cincinnati, Ohio, August 4, 1996
On August 4, 1996 at about 9:01 pm local time, a Cessna 172M, registered N172PS, was substantially damaged in an accident near Cincinnati, Ohio (Cincinnati-Lunken 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).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
failure of the student pilot to maintain sufficient airspeed during an attempted go-around, which resulted in a stall/spin and an uncontrolled collision with the ground. A factor related to the accident was: an improper (premature) flare for landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 4, 1996 · about 9:01 pm local time
- Place
- Cincinnati, Ohio · Cincinnati-Lunken
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172M · all 172Ms on the register
- Registration
- N172PS · registry record · serial 17264139
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot was on her first solo flight. She was instructed by her flight instructor (CFI) to make 3 touch-and-go landings and one full stop landing while he watched. For her first touch-and-go, she departed on the left parallel runway. For traffic considerations, the tower controller cleared her to runway 21R for her first landing. Her execution of the landing on 21R was uneventful. During climb-out, the tower controller cleared her back to runway 21L. On her second attempted landing, she flared 20 or more feet above the surface of the runway. Realizing her error, she attempted to apply full throttle and lowered the nose to gain airspeed until she could retract the wing flaps, which were fully extended. She attempted to execute a go-around; however, the aircraft stalled. Reportedly, it veered to the left, pitched down and did a complete reversal before coming to rest well east of runway 21L.
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: 24 hours in all; 24 in this make and model; 18 in the last 90 days; 10 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,811 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, July 30, 1996; 15 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,300 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-E2D (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LUK at 8:45 pm
- Destination: LUK
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 21L, 6,102 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 10,000 ft; scat at 4,000 ft
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 66°F (19°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:05 pm from KLU
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 IAD96LA125.