- Date
- September 28, 2022, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Winterville, NC
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2509NCessna 140
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220928016509A
- Case key
- 106024
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing. A factor in the accident was the instructor’s delayed remedial action which resulted in an inability to recover the airplane from an aerodynamic stall.
Findings · 3
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
According to the flight instructor, the student pilot was high on the approach but he allowed her to continue as he determined the landing was achievable based on visual references and cues. The student performed the landing flare, the airplane “hit hard and bounced quite high,” and the airplane pitched nose up to about a 45-degree angle. The flight instructor assumed control of the airplane, pushed the nose downward and applied full engine power to recover from the “imminent stall.” The flight instructor explained that the airplane lacked the power, airspeed, and altitude to outclimb the trees to its front and continued to fly the airplane “right at stall speed” until it settled into an area of small trees and heavy brush beyond the departure end of the landing runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane’s fuselage and wings, and minor injuries to the occupants.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2509N
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12766
- Built
- 1947
- Airframe hours
- 4,633.2
- Engine
- Continental C85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Pearce Cedric J
- Registered owner
- Pearce Cedric J
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2022 · 25.7 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 05N · South Oaks Aerodrome, runway 25, 1,850 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Unknown
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 3,523 total · 137 in this make and model
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 66
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 18 total · 5.5 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- KPGV, 9 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KPGV 281955Z AUTO 01005KT 10SM CLR 23/05 A3013 RMK AO2=
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 11, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.9 MB 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.
Other investigations on N2509N · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.