- Date
- August 24, 1996, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Waycross, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4982ACessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 18, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960824023949A
- Case key
- 3756
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 and 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
During landing, the student pilot flared prematurely. The airplane landed hard, bounced, and became airborne. The student added power and pushed the nose over. The airplane then landed on the nose gear which collapsed.
Factual narrative
On August 24, 1996, at 1130 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N4982A, collided with the runway during landing at Waycross-Ware County Airport, Waycross, Georgia. The student pilot was not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was operated by American Flight Academy under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the local, solo flight. The flight originated from Waycross-Ware County Airport approximately 1030.
According to the operator's chief flight instructor, the student flared too high on landing, and the airplane bounced upon touchdown. As the airplane bounced, the student added engine power and pushed the nose over. The airplane touched down on the nose gear first. The nose tire was blown out, and the nose landing gear folded backward. As the airplane nosed up, the propeller struck the ground. The right wingtip also contacted the ground, and the airplane came to rest on the main landing gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4982A
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- A1520925
- Airframe hours
- 4,478
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- American Flight Academy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 17, 1996 · 83 hours before
- Departed
- AYS
- Airport
- AYS · Waycross-Ware County, runway 18, 5,230 × 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
- 17
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 16 total · 16 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 14,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AMG, 18 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.