N487ER

On March 4, 1994, at 1005 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172N, N487ER, sustained structural damage after a hard landing and veering off the runway at Prescott, Arizona. The aircraft was owned and operated by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of Prescott, Arizona, and was on a local area dual instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions were prevalent at the time and no flight plan had been filed for the operation. The aircraft incurred substantial damage upon colliding with a ditch and nosing over. The certificated commercial pilot/flight instructor and his dual primary student sustained serious injuries. The flight originated on the day of the mishap at 0835 from the Ernest Love Municipal Airport.

In verbal and written statements, the chief flight instructor reported that the instructor and student were practicing touch- and-go operations on runway 21R. The student carried the approach about 1,000 feet beyond the approach end of the runway, flared, and made a very hard touchdown striking the tail of the aircraft on the runway. The aircraft bounced and power was applied. The aircraft came down again with the right main wheel off the right side of the pavement and continued to roll approximately another 1,000 feet, veering left and right, before running off the right side of the runway into a ditch and nosing over in soft dirt.

The flight instructor has a total flight experience of 287 hours with 11 hours as a flight instructor. The dual primary student has a total time of 13 hours of dual instruction.