- Date
- December 6, 2014, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Berrien Springs, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N25979Cessna 152
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 10, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20141206021819A
- Case key
- 90480
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 failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing and his poor decision not to abort the landing before the airplane traveled off the end of the airstrip.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot landed on the 1,944 foot long grass airstrip and traveled off the end of the airstrip, crossing a paved intersecting runway. The airplane continued to travel another 60 feet where it struck an embankment. The airplane traveled another 30 feet before nosing over causing substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot stated that a gust of wind caused him to lose directional control of the airplane before it nosed over; however wind reported at a nearby airport was variable at 6 knots. It could not be determined if the airplane touched down at too high of an airspeed or if the pilot landed long on the airstrip.
Factual narrative
The airplane nosed over during the landing roll. The 83-year-old pilot landed on the 1,944 foot long grass airstrip, and the airplane continued off the end of the airstrip and crossed over the paved intersecting runway. The airplane then continued to travel 60 feet where it struck an embankment, and another 30 feet before nosing over and substantially damaging the firewall. The pilot stated that a gust of wind caused him to lose directional control of the airplane before it nosed over. The wind reported at the Benton Harbor Airport, located 13 miles from the accident airport, was variable at 6 knots. The pilot purchased the airplane in 1983, and the aircraft registration lapsed in 2011. The pilot told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that he could not find his aircraft or pilot logbooks, and that he did not know when he last had a flight review. The pilot's last FAA airmen medical was dated December 15, 1983.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N25979
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280892
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- C20 · Berrien Springs, MI
- Destination
- C20 · Berrien Springs, MI
- Airport
- C20 · Andrews University Airpark, runway 21, 1,944 × 115 ft, grass/turf
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
- 83
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 140 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.52 inHg
- Observed at
- BEH, 13 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 19, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 503 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.