C172 flight instructors and a student pilot reported the student flew an aircraft with known prop da...

Attributes
ACN	1589940
Time
Date	201810
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Other All
Route In Use	VFR Route
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Student
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 18 Flight Crew Total 18 Flight Crew Type 18
Person 2
Function	Instructor
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Total 370
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft

Narrative:

During the preflight inspection; for a solo flight at my flight school; I observed a half-inch bend on both ends of the propeller. While I was observing; I believed that the aircraft was still airworthy and that the damage would have little to no effect on the flight. I was properly trained by my CFI; that any damage of the prop should be reported; but I failed to comprehend that the prop damage could have resulted in a major failure. During the flight I felt the airplane vibrate more than usual and the performance was sluggish; but nothing to warrant an emergency landing or aborting a takeoff. Because of the negligible effect that the damaged prop had on the airplane; to me it confirmed that nothing was wrong; which in hindsight I realize it was not a good decision. With this situation; I should have asked any other person; and my instructor whether or not the aircraft is airworthy due to the prop damage. In the future; I will report any minor or major problems with the aircraft to flight operations as a preventative measure. I feel that inexperience contributed to me making this decision. I will also be conducting post flight inspections more thoroughly after every flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 flight instructors and a student pilot reported the student flew an aircraft with known prop damage.

Narrative: During the preflight inspection; for a solo flight at my flight school; I observed a half-inch bend on both ends of the propeller. While I was observing; I believed that the aircraft was still airworthy and that the damage would have little to no effect on the flight. I was properly trained by my CFI; that any damage of the prop should be reported; but I failed to comprehend that the prop damage could have resulted in a major failure. During the flight I felt the airplane vibrate more than usual and the performance was sluggish; but nothing to warrant an emergency landing or aborting a takeoff. Because of the negligible effect that the damaged prop had on the airplane; to me it confirmed that nothing was wrong; which in hindsight I realize it was not a good decision. With this situation; I should have asked any other person; and my instructor whether or not the aircraft is airworthy due to the prop damage. In the future; I will report ANY minor or major problems with the aircraft to flight operations as a preventative measure. I feel that inexperience contributed to me making this decision. I will also be conducting post flight inspections more thoroughly after every flight.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.