# NTSB ANC97LA072: Cessna 150, N5668E, Anchorage, AK, May 18, 1997 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: May 18, 1997, 12:50 local (20:50 UTC) - Place: Anchorage, AK - Coordinates: 61.159706, -149.989669 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=61.1597&lon=-149.9897&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report May 29, 1998 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 3005 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC97LA072 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/3005/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC97LA072 ## Probable cause failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the airplane during a touch-and-go landing. Factors associated with the accident were: the rough/uneven runway, and a berm. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - on ground/water, landing - touch-and-go - initiated - airport facilities,runway/landing area condition - rough/uneven (contributing factor) - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - ground loop/swerve - On ground/water encounter with terrain/water, landing - terrain condition - berm (contributing factor) ## Analysis The student pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings in a tailwheel equipped airplane. After touchdown on a rutted portion of the runway, the pilot added full power to takeoff again. The airplane began to drift toward the left. Full application of right rudder did not correct the left drift. The student aborted the takeoff, but the airplane swerved off the left side of the runway, and collided with a berm. The student had accrued 27 hours of total instruction. ## Factual narrative On May 18, 1997, about 1250 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 150, N5668E, crashed during landing at the Goose Bay airstrip, about 9 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area instructional flight when the accident occurred. The airplane, operated by Alaska Air Academy, Anchorage, sustained substantial damage. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Lake Hood Strip, Anchorage, about 1120. In a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on May 18, 1997, the Director of Operations reported the student pilot was practicing touch and go landings. The airplane had been modified to a Texas Taildragger (tail-wheel) configuration. During a landing on runway 25, the student touched down on a rutted area of the runway. The pilot added power to begin a takeoff, but the airplane began to drift toward the left. The pilot added full right rudder, but the airplane continued toward the left. The pilot aborted the takeoff, and the airplane swerved off the left side of the runway and collided with a berm. The airplane received damage to the main landing gear and propeller. The Director of Operations inspected the airplane after the accident. He reported no malfunction of the airplane's rudder cables. The student pilot had accrued 27 hours of total instruction, all accrued in the accident airplane. An NTSB pilot/operator report (NTSB form 6120.1/2) was not returned by the operator. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N5668E](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N5668E), registered now, S/N 17168, built 1959 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 150 - Registry model: [Cessna 150](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-150) (registry code 2071802) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental 0-200 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-200-series) (registry code 17020, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 17168 - Airframe hours: 3030 - Engines: Continental O-200 100 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Operator: Great Northern Airlines, doing business as Alaska Air Academy - Registered owner: James Fuerstenberg - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: 100 hour, May 8, 1997, 8 hours before - Departed: Z41, AK - Destination: Z40 - Flight plan: Company VFR - Airport: Z40, Goose Bay, runway 25, 3,000 × 75 ft, gravel ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 32; student; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; flight hours: 27 total, 27 in this make and model, 6 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 300° at 1 knots - Visibility: 90 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 20,000 ft broken - Temperature: 50 °F, dew point 34 °F - Observed at: ANC, 9 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19970518012839A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970518012839A), May 18, 1997: Cessna 150, Goose Bay, AK, Substantial damage. Practice t and l landings. Student landed tail dragger in rutted area. Veered. Aborted and exited runway. ## Other investigations on N5668E (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB UNK64X2644](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/UNK64X2644), Jul 4, 1964: Cessna 150 (N5668E), Pacoima, CA, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.