- Date
- October 12, 2007, 13:34 local (18:34 UTC)
- Place
- McAllen, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N65591Cessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- San Antonio, Texas
- Case key
- 66889
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 failure to maintain airspeed during the landing approach resulting in an inadvertent stall.
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 104-hour student pilot was attempting a full-stop landing with the aircraft configured with 20 degrees of flaps and the throttle at idle. The pilot reported that after he flared for the landing, the aircraft pitched-up and began drifting to the left. The pilot responded by applying full-right rudder and retracting the flaps to 10 degrees. This is the last event the pilot can recall in the accident sequence. The airplane impacted the ground in a nose-low attitude, nosed-over and came to rest in the inverted position 150 feet from the left side of Runway 13. An examination of the airplane revealed the nose landing gear had been sheared off and structural damage was sustained to the nose cone, propeller, engine compartment, fuselage, left wing and tail section. The wind at the time of the mishap was reported from 090 degrees at 5 knots. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures prior to the mishap.
Factual narrative
The 104-hour student pilot was attempting a full-stop landing with the aircraft configured with 20 degrees of flaps and the throttle at idle. The pilot reported that after he flared for the landing, the aircraft pitched-up and began drifting to the left. The pilot responded by applying full-right rudder and retracting the flaps to 10 degrees. This is the last event the pilot can recall in the accident sequence. The airplane impacted the ground in a nose-low attitude, nosed-over and came to rest in the inverted position 150 feet from the left side of Runway 13. An examination of the airplane revealed the nose landing gear had been sheared off and structural damage was sustained to the nose cone, propeller, engine compartment, fuselage, left wing and tail section. The wind at the time of the mishap was reported from 090 degrees at 5 knots. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures prior to the mishap.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65591
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275781
- Airframe hours
- 5,379
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- McCreery Aviation Company Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 2007
- Departed
- MFE · McAllen, TX
- Airport
- MFE · Mc Allen Miller Intl, runway 13, 7,120 × 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 58
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 104 total · 104 in this make and model · 34 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Observed at
- MFE