FTW00LA087

NTSB accident investigation · Cessna 150L · Rush Springs, OK · February 26, 2000

Accident · No injuriesLimited investigationFinal report
Date
February 26, 2000, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
Place
Rush Springs, OK
Injuries
1 uninjured
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Landing
Aircraft
N1254QCessna 150L
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report March 2, 2001
Report
Approved by Office Director
FAA report
20000226004709A
Case key
48691

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

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Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft during landing roll. Factors were the pilot's diverted attention to raising the flaps and the high wind conditions.

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.

Loss of control - on ground/waterLanding - roll
Weather condition - high windFactor
Aircraft control - not maintainedPilot in commandCause
Diverted attentionPilot in commandFactor
Nose overLanding - roll

Analysis

The pilot reported that when the flight departed, the winds were from the northwest. She flew the airplane about 3 miles south to her private residential grass airstrip. Prior to the landing on runway 35, she noted that the windsock was straight out toward the east, and she estimated the winds at 25 to 30 mph from the west. She configured the airplane with full flaps (40 degrees) and landed the airplane toward the north. During the landing roll on the runway, she reached over and selected flaps up and pushed the carburetor heat in; then noticed that the aircraft had become airborne approximately 10 feet agl, and had turned 30 degrees left. Before she could react, the aircraft hit the ground nose wheel first and came to rest inverted.

Factual narrative

On February 26, 2000, at 1430 central standard time, a Cessna 150L, single-engine airplane, N1254Q, nosed over during the landing roll at a private grass airstrip near Rush Springs, Oklahoma. The airplane was owned by private individuals and operated under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot was not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight, and a flight plan was not filed. The flight originated from another local airstrip at approximately 1400.

The pilot reported to the NTSB investigator-in-charge that when the flight departed the grass airstrip across from their local business, the winds were from the northwest. She flew the airplane about 3 miles south to their private residential airstrip, which is approximately 3,000 feet in length. Prior to the landing on runway 35, the pilot noted that the windsock was straight out toward the east, and she estimated the winds at 25 to 30 mph from the west. She configured the airplane with full flaps (40 degrees) and landed the airplane toward the north. During the landing roll on the runway, as "[she] reached over and selected flaps up and pushed [the] carb heat in, then [she] noticed that the aircraft had become airborne and had turned 30 [degrees] left, the aircraft was approximately 10 feet in the air. Before [she] could do anything, the aircraft hit the ground nose wheel first and came to rest upside down."

The FAA inspectors responding to the site found structural damage to the engine firewall, vertical stabilizer, and right wing. The propeller and nose landing gear were also damaged.

Aircraft

Registration
N1254Q
Reported as
Cessna 150L
Category
Airplane
Serial number
15072554
Airframe hours
1,995
Engine
Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Registered owner
Cheryl L. Caveny
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Last inspection
Annual · February 20, 1999 · 50 hours before
Departed
NONE · Local Airstrip
Airport
NONE · Paradise, runway 35, 3,000 × 75 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
Pilot
Age
45
Certificate
Private
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land
Medical
Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
Seat
Left
Flight hours
139 total · 60 in this make and model · 69 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
270° at 20 knots, gusting 30
Visibility
20 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
50 °F, dew point 36 °F

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 N1254Q · 1

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.