- Date
- January 26, 2010, 11:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- Taunton, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5478QCessna 150
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 75311
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 obtain the proper touchdown point during landing.
Findings · 2
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 pilot was landing on the 3,500-foot-long runway, which was oriented 300 degrees magnetic. Prior to touchdown, the pilot decided to conduct a touch-and-go landing. The pilot stated that after touchdown he moved the carburetor heat to the "cold" position and applied power to take off. The engine "stumbled and popped," and the pilot aborted the takeoff and "applied hard braking." The airplane departed the end of the runway and impacted snow and ice past the runway edge. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall. A witness stated that he saw the airplane "level off" at "the first one-third point" and continue down the runway "at an altitude of 15 feet and estimated 70 knots." He stated that the airplane touched down "on the last quarter of the runway," and he heard tires "squealing." A Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the airplane after the accident identified no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures. The recorded weather observation around the time of the accident included winds from 230 degrees at 11 knots, with gusts to 19 knots.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing on the 3,500-foot long runway, which was oriented 300 degrees magnetic. Prior to touchdown, the pilot decided to make "a touch and go landing." The pilot stated that after touchdown, he moved the carburetor heat to the "cold" position and applied power to take off. The engine "stumbled and popped," and the pilot aborted the takeoff and "applied hard braking." The airplane departed the end of the runway and impacted snow and ice past the runway edge. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall. A witness stated that he saw the airplane "level off" at "the first one-third point" and continue down the runway "at an altitude of 15 feet and estimated 70 knots." He stated that the airplane touched down "on the last quarter of the runway," and he heard tires "squealing." A Federal Aviation Administration inspector, who examined the airplane after the accident, identified no mechanical malfunctions or failures. The recorded weather observation around the time of the accident included winds from 230 degrees at 11 knots, with gusts to 19 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5478Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 150 (L)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15073378
- Airframe hours
- 3,937
- Engine
- Continental O200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Nelson Woodward
- Registered owner
- Nelson Woodward
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 20, 2009
- Departed
- TAN · Taunton, MA
- Destination
- TAN · Taunton, MA
- Airport
- TAN · Taunton Municipal Airport, runway 30, 3,500 × 75 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
- 84
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 21, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,000 total · 500 in this make and model · 3,000 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 11 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 45 ft broken
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.53 inHg
- Observed at
- TAN
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 6, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB in all.