- Date
- March 20, 2025, 15:56 local (20:56 UTC)
- Place
- Denton, TX · Airport
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N68332Cessna 152
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 9, 2026
- 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
- 20250320013029A
- Case key
- 199905
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 and subsequent improper recovery from a bounced landing. Contributing to the accident was the gusty crosswind and windshear during landing.
Findings · 6
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 was conducting a full stop landing to runway 36R in a gusty crosswind and light-to-moderate turbulence. While the airplane was on the base leg in the traffic pattern, another pilot transmitted over the tower frequency that they had a 10 knot windshear while over the runway during their takeoff. The tower controller asked the pilot if she heard the other pilot’s transmission about windshear over the runway. The pilot acknowledged the potential for windshear, increased her approach speed, and continued with the landing approach. The pilot reported that the airplane remained on a stable landing approach until a few feet above the runway when the airplane landed hard before she began the landing flare. The airplane bounced and then began to porpoise on the runway. The nose landing gear struck the runway at least 3 times before the pilot increased engine power for a go-around. However, as she increased the engine power, the nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid nose down to a stop on the runway. Several engine mount tubes fractured when the nose landing gear collapsed aft. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. Additionally, she reported that the wind conditions at the time of the accident exceeded her personal limitations and that the accident could have been prevented had she began the go-around after the first bounced landing. Recorded wind at the time of the accident was 340° at 12 knots gust to 19 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N68332
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285326
- Built
- 1981
- Airframe hours
- 13,678
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- US Aviation Academy
- Registered owner
- Wings Over Texas Holdings, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 25, 2024 · 821.7 hours before
- Departed
- DTO · Denton, TX
- Destination
- DTO · Denton, TX
- Airport
- DTO · Denton Enterprise Airport, runway 36R, 7,002 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 29, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 234.1 total · 200.7 in this make and model · 135.6 as pilot in command · 18.8 in the last 90 days · 11.8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 12 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- KDTO
- METAR
- METAR KDTO 202053Z 34012G19KT 10SM CLR 17/M03 A3028 RMK AO2 SLP251 T01671028 56034=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.6 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.