- Date
- May 12, 1995, 19:30 local (May 13, 1995, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Indian Trail, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9215UCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 23, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950512011729A
- Case key
- 3560
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's improper landing flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The aircraft collided with terrain while attempting a visual landing, at goose creek airport, in Indian Trail, north carolina. According to a witness, the aircraft bounced after initial touchdown on runway 22. The airplane was then about 15 feet above the ground, to the left of the runway, in a nose high, left wing down attitude. The nose then pitched down, and the aircraft collided with downward sloping terrain, adjacent to the runway. The nose gear broke off and the airplane nosed over. The pilot stated that he had attempted a go-around following the initial touchdown. The witness observed the aircraft after the accident. The flight controls were intact, the flaps were fully extended, and the throttle was half way in.
Factual narrative
On May 12, 1995, about 1930 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150, N9215U, collided with the ground during a landing at Indian Trail, North Carolina. The airplane was operated by a student pilot, under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. There were no injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The local flight originated about 1820, on the same day.
A commercial rated pilot, with 500 hours of total flight time, observed the aircraft after initial touch down on runway 22. The aircraft bounced, and then pitched up. The witness recalled that the aircraft was then about 15 feet above the ground, to the left of the runway, in a nose high, left wing down attitude. The nose then pitched down, and the aircraft collided with downward sloping terrain, adjacent to the runway. The nose gear broke off and the airplane nosed over.
According to the student pilot, the initial touchdown seemed normal. The pilot said that when the aircraft bounced, he initiated a go-around. As he attempted the go-around, the aircraft turned to the left, and then collided with the downsloping terrain.
The pilot climbed out of the aircraft unharmed. The witness observed that fuel was venting from the left wing and the flaps were fully extended. The flight controls were intact, the carburetor heat was on, and the throttle was half way in. There were no marks on the runway, and the nose gear had broken off at the engine mounts. At this time the pilot stated that the aircraft had caught a gust of wind, and that he had attempted a go-around. At 1950, on the same day, the weather service on the field, at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, 20 nautical miles west of the accident, reported winds from 130 degrees at 3 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9215U
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 015078165
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Christopher Dowd Mills
- Registered owner
- Kenneth M. Blevins
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 11, 1995 · 100 hours before
- Airport
- 28A · Goose Creek Airport, runway 22, 2,350 × 40 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 26
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 16 total · 16 in this make and model · 3 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Observed at
- CLT, 20 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.
Other investigations on N9215U · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.