- Date
- April 30, 1994, 13:10 local (17:10 UTC)
- Place
- Farmingdale, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1561QCessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940430009619A
- Case key
- 8921
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The student pilot's improper flare and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision.
Analysis
The student and certificated flight instructor were performing touch and go landings. During a touch and go landing the airplane ballooned, and the student pushed forward on the yoke. The airplane hit the runway nose first. The instructor stated 'I did not have time enough to counter act the students action.' After the airplane hit the ground, the instructor took control of the airplane and executed a go around. Ground personnel radioed that the nose gear had bent. The instructor made the landing and during the landing the nose gear collapsed damaging the forward fuselage. Post accident examination revealed no pre-impact discrepancies.
Factual narrative
On April 30, 1994, about 1310 eastern daylight time, N1561Q, a Cessna 150L, operated by Gibson Air Academy, Inc., was substantially damaged during a touch and go landing at Allair Airport, Farmingdale, New Jersey. The Certified Flight Instructor and student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. There was no flight plan for the instructional flight that was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
in a written statement, the pilot stated,
I and my student were about to execute a touch and go. As the airplane ballooned, the student reacted with force. He pushed the control yoke forward. The airplane hit the ground nose first. I did not have time enough to counter act the students action, but executed a go around. After that, I remained in control of the airplane, went around for a fly-by to have others [ground personnel] inspect the nose gear. I heard over the frequency [radio] that it [the nose gear] was bent. After that I came around to do the landing. I shut the engine down....After touchdown...the nose tumbled forward as the airspeed diminished....
Post accident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector revealed that the firewall was buckled, the nose gear assembly was fractured, and the rudder pedal control cables were crimped by the damaged structure. There were no pre-impact mechanical deficiencies.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1561Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15072861
- Airframe hours
- 3,839
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gibson Air Academy, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 22, 1993 · 85 hours before
- Departed
- BLM
- Airport
- BLM · Allaire, runway 32, 7,500 × 80 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
- 21
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 710 total · 75 in this make and model · 610 as pilot in command · 145 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N1561Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.