- Date
- January 11, 1996, 08:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Myers, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N93103Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 9, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960111001409A
- Case key
- 3684
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 student pilot's improper flare to touchdown.
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 flight instructor stated that the student was conducting his third supervised solo flight. The first two landings of the flight were uneventful. During the third flare to touchdown, the airplane began porpoising, then collided with the ground, veered off the right side of the runway, and nosed over.
Factual narrative
On January 11, 1996, at 0830 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N93103, nosed over during an attempted landing on runway 5 at Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida. The solo instructional flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the student pilot was not injured. The flight's initial departure time from Fort Myers was not determined.
The flight instructor stated that the student was conducting a supervised solo flight. The first two landings of the flight were uneventful, but on the third flare to touchdown, the airplane began porpoising. According to the student pilot, he was on final approach and has aligned the airplane with the runway. The airplane touched down center line, and he held the nosewheel off of the runway for a moment. When the nosewheel touched down on the runway surface, the plane immediately went into a right skid. The airplane skidded off the right side of the runway and nosed over.
Examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical problem; the student pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93103
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285403
- Airframe hours
- 6,275
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Thomas Burke Mast
- Registered owner
- Alternative Flying Club, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 10, 1996 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- FMY
- Airport
- FMY · Page Field, runway 5, 6,401 × 150 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11 total · 11 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 9° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.