- Date
- September 9, 2001, 08:45 local (13:45 UTC)
- Place
- South St. Paul, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6142KCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20010909024699A
- Case key
- 53451
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 failed to maintain directional control. A factor was his lack of total flight experience.
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 airplane sustained substantial damage during takeoff when it settled back to the runway and veered off the left side of the runway. The solo student pilot was intending to practice takeoffs and landings. The pilot reported he initiated the takeoff. After normal lift off and climb to approximately 20 feet AGL, the aircraft drifted to the left and struck the ground at the left edge of the runway. The aircraft ran off of the runway onto the grass paralleling the runway until the nose landing gear folded and the aircraft stopped. The pilot reported there were no problems with the flight controls or aircraft The inspection of the airplane revealed no airworthiness issues. The student pilot had a total of 18 flight hours.
Factual narrative
On September 9, 2001, at 0845 central daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N6142K, sustained substantial damage during takeoff when it settled back to the runway and veered off the left side of runway 16 (4,001 feet by 100 feet, dry asphalt) at the South St. Paul Airport/Fleming Field (SGS), South St. Paul, Minnesota. The solo student pilot was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 local instructional flight was originating from SGS and the student pilot was intending to practice takeoffs and landings. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed.
The student pilot reported the ailerons were into the wind when he pushed the throttle forward for takeoff. He reported the airplane started to lift off and then, "...the nose went to the left and right wing came up [and] slammed back to ground [.] rolled about 500 feet [and] prop struck as nosewheel broke and skidded to a stop 110' later."
The airplane came to rest 426 feet southeast of the middle taxiway on the grass to the left of runway 16. The nose landing gear was folded rearward and the airplane was resting on its main landing gear wheels and the engine cowling.
The student pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction to the airplane. He had a total of 18 flight hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6142K
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15077550
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- South St. Paul FSS Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- SGS · South St. Paul, MN
- Airport
- SGS · South St. Paul Municipal, runway 16, 4,001 × 100 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Unknown, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 18 total · 18 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- SGS
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 12, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 359 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.