Cessna 172S accident near Orlando, Florida, November 21, 2003
On November 21, 2003 at about 6:00 pm local time, a Cessna 172S, registered N378FA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Orlando, Florida (Orlando Excecutive 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 pilots improper landing flare and his improper recovery from a bounced landing resulting in a hard landing and damage to the airplane.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 21, 2003 · about 6:00 pm local time
- Place
- Orlando, Florida · Orlando Excecutive Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172S · all 172Ss on the register
- Registration
- N378FA · no longer on the register · serial 172S9378
- 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 approach to runway 7, with 30 degrees of flaps. He flared and felt a gust or quick jolt to the left, and the airplane slammed into the runway nose first and bounced. The airplane came down at about a 45-degree angle to the runway and touched down, then drifted to the left. The pilot was instructed by ground control to taxi to the ramp. The airplane suffered damage to the nose wheel, propeller, and firewall.
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: 42 hours in all; 42 in this make and model; 22 in the last 90 days; 12 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 349.9 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, October 23, 2003; 55.6 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,558 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-L2A (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Air Orlando Flight School
The flight
- Departed from: KOCF Ocala FL
- Destination: ORL Orlando FL
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 07, 6,003 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 020° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 57°F (14°C)
- Altimeter: 30.07 inHg
- Observation at 5:53 pm from KORL
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.
Other NTSB records under N378FA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.