N521JD

On February 2, 2005, about 1530 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172S, N521JD, veered off the runway and nosed over during landing rollout at Harris Ranch Airport, Coalinga, California. Kern Charter Service, Inc., was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Bakersfield Municipal Airport, Bakersfield, California, about 1435. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed.

In telephone interview with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the pilot reported that he performed a normal landing on runway 32 at Coalinga. The airplane touched down past the runway designation markings, and at the airplane's normal touchdown speed, about 50 knots. During touchdown, the airplane bounced once, and the pilot attempted to correct and transition the airplane to the landing rollout. Established in the landing rollout phase, the pilot determined that insufficient runway remained to stop the airplane. He elected not to perform an aborted landing due to the short runway. The airplane overran the end of the runway and the nose landing gear impacted soft dirt. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted.

The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.

The Airport/Facility Directory Southwest U.S., indicated that runway 32 was 2,820 feet long, 30 feet wide.

Advisory Circular 61-21A, Flight Training Handbook, under Bouncing During Touchdown, states in part: 1. When the airplane contacts the ground with a sharp impact as the result of an improper attitude or an excessive sink rate, it tends to bounce back into the air; 2. The severity of the bounce depends on the airspeed at the moment of contact and the degree to which the angle of attack or pitch attitude was increased; 3. When a bounce is severe, the safest procedure is to execute a go-around immediately. No attempt to salvage the landing should be made; and 4. The go-around procedure should be continued even though the airplane may descend and another bounce may be encountered.