- Date
- August 31, 2009, 18:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Harrisburg, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N69124Cessna 152
- Defining event
- Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090831049129A
- Case key
- 74675
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 delayed decision to abort the takeoff, resulting in an overrun.
Findings · 1
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 student pilot stated that he was practicing full-stop landings on a short, grass runway. On his second takeoff, he was dissatisfied with the airplane's rate of climb and aborted the takeoff approximately 2/3 of the way down the runway. After touchdown, the airplane overran the departure end of the runway and came to rest in a bean field, which resulted in substantial damage to the nose gear, firewall, fuselage and propeller. The student pilot’s certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that the runway's length and surface “doesn’t allow for mistakes.” The student pilot further stated there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
The student pilot stated that he was practicing full-stop landings on a short, grass runway. On his second takeoff, he was dissatisfied with the airplane's rate of climb and aborted the takeoff approximately 2/3 of the way down the runway. After touchdown, the airplane overran the departure end of the runway and came to rest in a bean field, which resulted in substantial damage to the nose gear, firewall, fuselage and propeller. The student pilot’s certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that the runway's length and surface “doesn’t allow for mistakes.” The student pilot further stated there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N69124
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15282499
- Airframe hours
- 8,133
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235 SERIES, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Keiter Kenneth A
- Registered owner
- Keiter Kenneth A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 21, 2008 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- 0PS7 · Elizabethtown, PA
- Destination
- 0PS7 · Elizabethtown, PA
- Airport
- 0PS7 · Harmen Airport, runway 26, 1,900 × 150 ft, grass/turf
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
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 101 total · 101 in this make and model · 4 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- MUI, 14 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 19, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 844 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.