N3015E is a 1978 Cessna 172N. It is a fixed-wing single-engine aircraft with 4 seats, powered by a Lycoming 0-320 series rated at 180 horsepower. The registration is active, with the registrant based in Orlando, FL. Its standard airworthiness certificate was issued in Aug 1978. It has been registered to its current owner since Jul 2020. This page also carries 2 NTSB events.
- 48 years old
- 1 of 3,294 Cessna 172N
2020
1978
That's everything on file so far — TailWiki checks the FAA registry daily and adds new entries as N3015E's record changes.
On December 24, 2018, about 1344 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172N, N3015E, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The flight instructor, student pilot, and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local instructional flight. The airplane was owned by Air Con LLC, and operated by Airplanes 4 Rent, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight originated from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, about 1330.
According to the flight instructor, they were flying along the shoreline at 800 ft above ground level (agl). The engine started to vibrate and then experienced a complete loss of power. The flight instructor tried to restart the engine twice, but the engine did not start. He set up for an emergency landing on the beach. At 200 ft. agl, he noticed a pier and knew he had to fly over the pier to make a safe landing on the other side. He tried to restart the engine for a third time and the engine restarted but did not produce power over 1,200 rpm. Once over the pier, he saw people on the beach and decided to land in the ocean. When the main landing gear touched the water, the airplane immediately flipped over. All four occupants egressed the airplane. During the landing, the vertical stabilizer and rudder were damaged.
Examination of the engine by a NTSB investigator revealed that the No. 2 exhaust rocker arm stud fractured. Engine continuity was established by rotating the propeller by hand and visually verifying that the pistons and push rods moved on all cylinders. No other anomalies were noted.
The rocker arm stud was sent to NTSB Materials Laboratory, Washington, DC, for examination. The examination of the fracture surface revealed characteristics consistent with a fatigue fracture. Review of maintenance records did not reveal if and when the stud was ever replaced or inspected during the major overhaul.
The four-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane was built in 1978, and equipped with a Lycoming O-320-series engine. The most recent annual inspection was completed on December 19, 2018. At the time of the inspection, the airframe total time was 5,295.0 hours and the engine had 1,568.7 hours since major overhaul. The major overhaul was completed on May 10, 2006.
According to the airplane owner, he purchased the airplane in February 2018 from AIG insurance as a salvage purchase. The airplane was located in Belize City, Belize. The airplane was damaged by a trolley that rolled into it and damaged the left-wing strut, rudder, and elevator. He flew down, repaired the airplane, and flew it back to Fort Lauderdale. He performed an annual inspection in May 2018 and put it into rental service at that time. The airplane flew for 218 hours before the accident.
The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate, with a rating for airplane single-engine land, and instrument airplane. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration first-class medical certificate was issued on October 26, 2017. He reported 1,580.5 total hours of flight experience at the time of the accident.
The student pilot of the Cessna 172N departed and flew for approximately 1 hour before returning to find stronger, gusting winds. He initially intended to perform "some touch and go landings," but due to the wind conditions, the pilot opted to terminate the flight with a single, full stop landing. Due to the gusts, the pilot executed a go-around on his first approach. He used a reduced flap setting of 20 degrees for his second approach, and during the flare, a gust of wind caused the airplane to "balloon." The pilot attempted to recover by adding power, but the airplane "landed hard" nose gear first, bounced, and then landed normally. The pilot completed the rollout and taxied to the terminal without further incident. The pilot did not experience any preimpact failures or malfunctions with the airplane, and a postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The weather observation at an airport 11 miles to the northeast, about the time of the accident, showed winds from 250 degrees, at 8 knots with gusts to 16 knots.
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About the Cessna 172N
About the modelA late-1970s Skyhawk variant, four-seat and high-wing. Widely used for primary training; the type is common enough that parts and instruction are available almost anywhere.