- Date
- April 18, 2000, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Battle Creek, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N975BCCessna 172R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000418036999A
- Case key
- 48996
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 student pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing. Factors associated with the accident were the misjudged landing flare, the student's lack of total experience, the runway lights, and the runway signs.
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.
Analysis
The student pilot reported that he flared the airplane 20 to 30 feet above the runway and the airplane bounced. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway in a nose high attitude. The student reported he added power to abort the landing and the elevator struck runway lights and the runway signs. He stated he was able to get the airplane back on the runway centerline and the go around was aborted. He reported the winds were calm at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
On April 18, 2000, at 1400 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172R, N975BC, operated by Western Michigan University, collided with two runway signs and two runway lights during an aborted landing following a loss of directional control. The landing was being made on runway 23 (10,000' x 150') at the Kellogg Airport, Battle Creek, Michigan. The student pilot was not injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 local flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated at Battle Creek, Michigan, at 1305 edt.
The student pilot reported that he flared the airplane 20 to 30 feet above the runway and the airplane bounced. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway in a nose high attitude. The student reported he added power to abort the landing and the elevator struck runway lights and the runway signs. He stated he was able to get the airplane back on the runway centerline and the go around was aborted. The pilot reported the winds were calm when the accident occurred.
The Safety Officer for the International Pilot Training Centre at Western Michigan University reported, "The aircraft landed heavily veered to the left and bounced back into the air in a nose high attitude. Although power was reapplied to effect a "go around" procedure, the pilot was unable to recover the situation and witnesses report that the aircraft appeared to strike the ground, firstly with the left, then with the right elevator section. The aircraft struck two runway lights and two frangible taxiway/runway information boards to the left of runway 23 at the intersections with taxiway E and runway 13."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N975BC
- Reported as
- Cessna 172R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17280046
- Airframe hours
- 1,780
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Western Michigan University
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · March 13, 2000 · 80 hours before
- Departed
- BTL
- Destination
- BTL
- Airport
- BTL · Kellogg, runway 23, 10,000 × 150 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
- 24
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 21 total · 21 in this make and model · 5 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BTL
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 N975BC · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.