N733HK

On October 1, 1998, about 1700 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N733HK, registered to Huffman Aviation, Inc., dba Venice Flying Service, experienced a hard landing at the Venice Municipal Airport, Venice, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private-rated pilot and one passenger were not injured. The flight had originated about 1550 from the Venice Municipal Airport.

The pilot stated that he had performed three stop-and-go landings and after touchdown for a planned full stop landing, the airplane touched down and bounced two or three times. During this time, the throttle was at idle and the elevator control was full aft. He then elected to perform a go-around while on the ground and applied full power, but the airplane would not become airborne. He then aborted the go-around and the airplane veered off the left side of the runway near the departure end of the runway. The pilot further stated that there was no flight control or engine preimpact failure or malfunction. Postcrash inspection of the airplane revealed that the elevator flight controls were binding due to a buckled floor in the cockpit area.