- Date
- December 26, 2005, 12:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Pelican Lake, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6085MCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Milwaukee, WI, FSDO
- FAA report
- 20051226032299A
- Case key
- 63005
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 selecting an unsuitable landing area. Factors were the snow and ice covered lake.
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, piloted by a student pilot on a solo cross country instructional flight, sustained substantial damage on impact with the snow and ice on a frozen lake. The pilot stated, "While in route I made the decision to land on Pelican Lake located about 20 mi south of Rhinelander WI. ... Upon main gear touching down the gear was restricted and pulled the nose of the aircraft to the ground (ice) slid about 25 yards then settled back onto main gear." The pilot's safety recommendation stated, "This accident could have been prevented if I would have just stuck to my flight plan and [federal aviation regulations]. I realize that I made a very bad decision to land on the lake and have learned greatly from it."
Factual narrative
On December 26, 2005, about 1230 central standard time, a Cessna 152, N6085M, piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage on impact with the snow and ice on Pelican Lake, Wisconsin. The solo cross country instructional flight was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was on file. The pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated from the Waukesha County Airport, near Waukesha, Wisconsin, and was en route to the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport, near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, at the time of the accident.
The pilot's accident report, in part, stated:
On the 26th day of December at 1230 AM central time I
was on a solo cross country flight from Waukesha to
Rhinelander WI. While in route I made the decision to
land on Pelican Lake located about 20 mi south of
Rhinelander WI. I made a few low passes over the lake
to observe the surface conditions. I could see that
there was only a few inches of snow on the lake and
surface seemed to be flat (no snow drifting or ice
heaves) so I set myself up for a soft field landing
configuration. Upon main gear touching down the
gear was restricted and pulled the nose of the aircraft
to the ground (ice) slid about 25 yards then settled
back onto main gear.
The pilot's safety recommendation, in part, stated:
This accident could have been prevented if I would have
just stuck to my flight plan and [federal aviation
regulations]. I realize that I made a very bad decision
to land on the lake and have learned greatly from it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6085M
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284616
- Airframe hours
- 8,930
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Spring City Aviation, doing business as Spring City Aviation
- Registered owner
- Safe Air Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 2005
- Departed
- UES · Waukesha, WI
- Destination
- RHI · Rhinelander, WI
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
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 46 total · 42 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.78 inHg
- Observed at
- RHI
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.