- Date
- March 5, 1997, 16:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Fernandina Bch, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N757HACessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 30, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970305002489A
- Case key
- 3827
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
inadequate visual lookout by the student pilot, which resulted in a collision with a parked trailer, while his attention was diverted. The proximity of the trailer was a related factor.
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 student pilot was taxiing to the ramp after completing a solo, cross-country flight, when the airplane collided with a parked utility trailer. According to an official from a fixed base operator, the utility trailer was parked on the taxiway, and the student was attempting to recover a flight chart from the right front seat, when the collision occurred. No mechanical problem of the airplane was reported by the student.
Factual narrative
On March 5, 1997, at 1645 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N757HA, collided with a parked utility trailer while taxing from landing at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport in Fernandina, Beach, Florida. The instructional flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with a 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 solo, cross-country flight departed Ormond Beach, Florida, at 1600.
The student pilot was taxing to the ramp after completing a solo country flight. According to an official from Sunrise Aviation, the utility trailer was parked on the taxiway, and the student pilot was attempting to recover a flight chart from the right front seat when the collision occurred. No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the student pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N757HA
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15279742
- Airframe hours
- 6,867
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sunrise Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 30, 1996 · 1,000 hours before
- Departed
- OMN · Ormond Beach, FL
- Destination
- OMN · FL
- Airport
- 55J · Fernandina Beach
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
- 20
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 35 total · 35 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JAX, 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 N757HA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.