- Date
- October 2, 1997, 10:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- Rockwall, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4957ACessna A152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971002046829A
- Case key
- 20457
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 improper recovery from a bounced landing and her failure to maintain directional control during the aborted landing. Factors were the wind gust and the turbulence.
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
The operator reported that the 63-hour student pilot was endorsed for a solo round-robin flight from the Rockwall Municipal Airport, to Mesquite, Texas, where she was cleared to practice takeoffs and landings. On her return flight to the Rockwall Airport, the student pilot lost control of the airplane during her landing roll on runway 16 after she 'got too low on final approach and she encountered turbulence from the hangars located at the northwest corner of the airport.' After losing control, the student pilot applied full power in an attempt to abort the landing. She added that the airplane managed to get airborne at 40 to 50 knots; however, the main landing gear impacted the airport's perimeter fence with the landing gear and the airplane nosed over coming to rest in the inverted position.
Factual narrative
On October 2, 1997, at 1045 central daylight time, a Cessna A152 airplane, N4957A, was substantially damaged following a loss of control while landing near Rockwall, Texas. The solo student pilot was not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by a private owner under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the solo instructional flight for which a flight plan was not filed. The flight originated from the Rockwall Municipal Airport at approximately 0930.
The operator reported that the 63 hour student pilot was endorsed for a solo round-robin flight (12 nautical miles each way) from the Rockwall Municipal Airport, to Mesquite, Texas, where she was cleared to practice takeoffs and landings. The student pilot completed two landings at the Mesquite Airport and departed the traffic pattern to return to Rockwall.
The student pilot told the FAA inspector that during her approach to runway 16 at the Rockwall Airport, she "got too low on final as she encountered turbulence from the hangars located at the northwest corner of the airport." In her enclosed written statement, the student pilot stated that "while flaring over the numbers, the winds gusted and the airplane touched down with the right wheel to the left side of the runway and bounced."
The student pilot stated that that after losing control of the airplane, she applied full power in an attempt to abort the landing. She further stated that the airplane managed to get airborne at an indicated airspeed of 40 to 50 knots; however, the main landing gear impacted the top strand of barbed wire from the airport's perimeter fence with the landing gear. The airplane nosed over after impacting the fence and the airplane came to rest in the inverted position.
The operator reported that the winds at the airport at the time of the accident were from 180 degrees at 7 knots.
Examination of the airplane by the FAA inspector that traveled to the accident site disclosed that the engine firewall, vertical stabilizer and the fuselage (at the right wing attaching point) sustained structural damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4957A
- Reported as
- Cessna A152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- A1520915
- Airframe hours
- 7,850
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-A, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wilburn G. Griffin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 20, 1997 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- HQZ · Mesquite, TX
- Destination
- F46
- Airport
- F46 · Rockwall Municipal, runway 16, 3,371 × 50 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 63 total · 63 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.