N4599D

On August 8, 2004, about 1445 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N4599D, was substantially damaged while landing at the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton International Airport (AVP), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The certificated student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the solo instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR part 91.

The student pilot stated that he contacted air traffic control (ATC), and was instructed to enter a right downwind for runway 4, a 7,501-foot-long, 150-foot-wide, asphalt runway. Shortly thereafter, the airplane's radio stopped working. The student pilot attempted to troubleshoot the problem, and was able to receive, but not transmit. He elected to land on runway 4, however, he overheard ATC clear another airplane to land, that was on a 5 mile final approach. The student pilot stated that he was "nervous" about the other airplane, turned a very early base leg, and approached "high and fast." The airplane contacted the runway hard, and began to bounce. It then departed the right side of the runway.

Examination of the airplane, which included a radio check, by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, did not reveal any discrepancies.

The student pilot reported 72.5 hours of total flight experience, all in the same make and model as the accident airplane, which also included 10.8 hours of solo flight experience.

A weather observation taken at AVP, at 1454, included winds from 340 degrees at 8 knots.