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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Keep the approach speed on target
Every knot above Vref is stored kinetic energy, and energy stored at the threshold must be dissipated in ground effect before the aeroplane will stop flying. Because kinetic energy scales with the square of speed, the excess you must dissipate grows fast. At a 45-knot approach, five knots hot is over a tenth more speed and roughly a quarter more energy to get rid of in ground effect. This is why the fix is never in the flare. It was decided three miles earlier, on final, at the airspeed indicator.
Read more in VRef ExplainedStart to finish · 10 stages, 8 scored
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The threshold, the flare and the hold-off. The approach that led to it is the stabilisation gates below.
One stabilised approach gate: five checks where the approach path is 500 ft above the runway. The 1,000 ft gate was not assessed, because the approach did not join final that far out.
The approach, gate by gate
Side view — the last 1,524 m of the approach.
Plan view — the full 1,524 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
The 63 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The 3.15 G arrival is the firm side of smooth.
The rest of the report
This flight was conducted using a Cessna C172 aircraft. The taxiing process, which involved moving the plane from the parking area to the runway, took approximately 4 minutes and covered a distance of less than 1 nautical mile.
The departure roll began on Runway 32 at KHSI Hastings Municipal Airport, with the plane requiring 421 meters, or 25% of the runway, to take off. The liftoff speed was achieved at 57 knots. Local weather conditions at the time of departure consisted of a temperature of 17 degrees Celsius and a wind of 10 knots blowing from an angle of 94 degrees, with a crosswind of 8 knots and a tailwind of 6 knots.
After taking off, the plane entered level cruise mode, flying overhead the KHSI Hastings Municipal Airport in Hastings, Nebraska, United States, for a brief period of 1 minute while covering less than 1 nautical mile.
For the final approach to landing, the aircraft descended from 449 feet above ground level to 1 nautical mile before the airport, after which it initiated the descent to touch down.
During the approach, the plane experienced a descent from an altitude of 111 feet above ground level to 0 feet, with no discernible time taken for the descent. Upon touching down, the aircraft's touchdown speed was noted to be excessively fast at 130 knots, resulting in a very heavy touchdown rate of -4,764 feet per minute. Surprisingly, despite the high speed, the touchdown distance was still reasonable at 63 meters.
The local weather conditions at the time of landing were characterized by a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius, a wind of 8 knots blowing from an angle of 313 degrees, a crosswind of 6 knots, and a headwind of 6 knots.
Overall, the flight covered a total distance of 2 nautical miles and lasted 2 minutes, with the aircraft consuming approximately 7 kilograms of fuel.
This aviation incident report concerns a Cessna C172 aircraft, a popular training plane, which experienced a difficult landing at Hastings Municipal Airport. The key issues with the landing become evident from the data provided, particularly in terms of approach speed and control.
The pilot managed to approach the runway successfully, landing within 1 nm of the intended point and maintaining an altitude of 449 ft above ground level (agl) at the start of the final approach stage. However, things started to go wrong when the aircraft was just 111 ft agl, resulting in a steep and uncontrolled descent. The absence of any time frame indicates that this descent happened extremely rapidly, likely leading to an unsteady landing experience for passengers and possibly affecting the structural integrity of the aircraft.
Upon touchdown, the pilot overshot the ideal landing speeds by a considerable margin, resulting in an excessively fast landing speed of 130 kt. This can indicate a lack of control and stability near the end of the landing sequence, which would have put pressure on the pilot. Alongside this, the significant negative touchdown rate of -4,764 fpm signifies an incredibly harsh impact. The pilot's handling during descent and landing needs to be reviewed and adjusted to ensure that future landings remain safe and smooth.
In terms of weather conditions, the pilot faced relatively benign conditions with a calm temperature and a light wind. With only a 6 kt headwind, crosswind, and very light tailwind, the pilot would have been able to handle these elements with relatively little challenge, suggesting that the main issues with the landing could not be attributed to weather.
Not all aspects of this landing were problematic, though. The pilot achieved a good touchdown distance of 63 m, showing some skill in navigating to the landing surface, and the aircraft's control during most of the descent and approach remained intact.
To make safe flights possible in the future, the pilot should focus on improving control over the aircraft's speed throughout the landing stages. It may be beneficial to consult training materials or to get coaching to develop the skill necessary to achieve smoother landings.
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