- Date
- September 5, 1996, 10:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Boulder, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N704QRCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 21, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960905047389A
- Case key
- 19970
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
an improper flare by the student pilot, and his improper recovery from a bounced landing. A factor relating to the accident was: the student pilot's lack of experience in the type (model) of aircraft.
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
During a touch-and-go landing on a student solo training flight, the aircraft touched down on the nose landing gear, then bounced. The second touch down was also on the nose gear, which collapsed. The aircraft then slid to a stop on the runway. The student pilot said this was his first solo in a Cessna 150. His previous solo was in a Cessna 152.
Factual narrative
On September 5, 1996, at 1000 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N704QR, landed hard at Boulder Municipal Airport, Boulder, Colorado. The student pilot was not injured and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this local area student solo training flight operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated approximately 30 minutes prior to the accident.
According to the student pilot, when he flared the aircraft for landing it ballooned. He said he pushed over and the aircraft touched down on the nose landing gear and bounced back in the air. On the second touchdown, which was also on the nose landing gear, the nose gear collapsed and the aircraft slid to a stop on the runway.
The student pilot said he felt uncomfortable in the aircraft as this was his first solo in the Cessna 150. His previous solo flight had been in a Cessna 152. According to the student, he had a total of 3 hours in the Cessna 150.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N704QR
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078794
- Airframe hours
- 5,650
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Dakota Ridge Aviation
- Registered owner
- Brungard Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- 1V5
- Airport
- 1V5 · Boulder Municipal, runway 8R, 4,100 × 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
- 29
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 38 total · 3 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 10 nm away
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 N704QR · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.