- Date
- January 4, 2025, 09:44 local (15:44 UTC)
- Place
- McKinney, TX · Runway
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3589LCessna 150F
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 18, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - North Texas FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250104000149A
- Case key
- 199519
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 flight instructor’s inadequate supervision and delayed remedial action and the student pilot’s failure to maintain a proper landing flare, which resulted in a nose down impact with the runway.
Findings · 5
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 student pilot and flight instructor were practicing touch-and-go landings with a left crosswind of about 5 knots. The student pilot reported that the airplane began to drift right during the landing flare. As he corrected for the right drift, the airplane pitched nose down and landed on the nose landing gear. The nose landing gear then collapsed, and the airplane slid to a stop on the runway in a nose down attitude. Several engine mount tubes fractured when the nose landing gear collapsed aft. The student pilot reported that he did not maintain a proper landing flare while he corrected for the right drift.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3589L
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15062389
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 4,351
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Texins Flying Club
- Registered owner
- Texins Flying Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 1, 2024 · 54 hours before
- Departed
- TKI · McKinney, TX
- Destination
- TKI · McKinney, TX
- Airport
- TKI · McKinney National Airport, runway 18, 7,002 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 24, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 6,870 total · 63 in this make and model · 6,597 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 23 total · 23 in this make and model · 18 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- TKI
- METAR
- KTKI 041553Z 13008KT 10SM BKN028 OVC048 12/07 A3018 RMK AO2 SLP225 T01220072
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 18, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 MB 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.
Other investigations on N3589L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.