CEN19LA264

NTSB accident investigation · Cessna 150 · Cordell, OK · August 9, 2019

Accident · Serious injuriesClass 3 · LimitedFinal report
Date
August 9, 2019, 18:30 local (23:30 UTC)
Place
Cordell, OK
Injuries
1 serious
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Landing
Aircraft
N8374JCessna 150
Defining event
Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed
Report
Approved by Office Director
Investigation class
Class 3
NTSB office
Central Region
Parties
FAA FSDO
FAA report
20190809016249A
Case key
100041

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 improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard bounced landing.

Findings · 3

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.

Use of equip/info: aircraft controlPersonnel issues › Task performance · PilotCessna 150G: 17 casesAll aircraft: 9,295 casesProbable cause
Performance/control parameters: descent/approach/glide pathAircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintainedCessna 150G: 4 casesAll aircraft: 809 casesProbable cause

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 was planning to conduct a touch-and-go landing, and the airplane landed hard and bounced back into the air. The airplane then descended and impacted terrain nose first, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane's firewall, fuselage, empennage, and wings. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with an improper landing flare which resulted in a hard, bounced landing.

Factual narrative

On August 9, 2019, about 1830 central daylight time, a Cessna 150G, N8374J, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Cordell, Oklahoma. The pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to information obtained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident, the pilot had just received his private pilot certificate for airplane single engine land earlier that day. The pilot performed a touch-and-go-landing to runway 22 at Cordell Municipal Airport (F36). A witness reported that the airplane touched down hard on the turf strip, and a spray of dirt was visible behind the airplane. The airplane bounced and went back into the air, changed to a nose low attitude, and impacted the ground nose first. The pilot did not recall the accident sequence when interviewed by the inspector. A postaccident examination of the airplane by the FAA inspector did not find any mechanical anomalies which would have precluded normal operations. Substantial damage was found to the firewall, fuselage, empennage, and wings.

Aircraft

Registration
N8374J
Reported as
Cessna 150 (G)
Category
Airplane
Serial number
15066274
Built
1967
Airframe hours
5,189
Engine
Continental O-200 SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Departed
F36 · Cordell, OK
Destination
F36 · Cordell, OK
Airport
F36 · Cordell Muni, runway 22, 1,886 × 100 ft

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
29
Injuries
Serious
Certificate
Private
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land
Medical
Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
Last flight review
August 9, 2019
Seat
Left

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
80° at 7 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
88 °F, dew point 72 °F
Altimeter
29.88 inHg
Observed at
KCSM, 12 nm away

Docket · 3

The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 1, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 180 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.