- Date
- October 18, 1997, 09:40 local (14:40 UTC)
- Place
- Norman, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N93116Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971018039629A
- Case key
- 20463
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 flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a porpoise and subsequent collapse of the nose gear.
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 his first solo landing, the student pilot flared the airplane too high. Subsequently, a high sink rate developed and the airplane landed hard and bounced. The student pilot added power in an attempt to execute a go-around; however, the airplane touched down again, bounced, and then touched down nose wheel first collapsing the nose landing gear.
Factual narrative
On October 18, 1997, at 0940 central daylight time, a Cessna 152 airplane, N93116, was substantially damaged when the nose landing gear collapsed following a hard landing at the University of Oklahoma Westheimer Airport in Norman, Oklahoma. The solo student pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to Christiansen Aviation, Inc., of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and operated by Airman Flight School, Inc., of Norman. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 local instructional flight which originated at 0930.
In a written statement provided to the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC), the student pilot reported that he was making his first solo landing, flared the airplane "too high," and "bounced" the landing. He added power in an attempt to execute a go-around; however, the airplane touched down again, bounced, and then touched down nose wheel first collapsing the nose landing gear.
The student's flight instructor witnessed the accident and provided a written statement to the NTSB IIC stating that the student "flared too soon allowing the aircraft to float." He further stated that the "aircraft's airspeed bleed off, [resulting in it] sinking rapidly toward the runway."
Another witness reported that the "pilot pitched up too high and landed with a hard bounce on the main gear." The airplane then "bounced a second time, with all three wheels," became "airborne again and came down nose first." The nose landing gear "buckled," and the airplane "slid to a stop on its propeller."
According to the FAA inspector who examined the airplane, the nose landing gear was bent back under the fuselage, and the propeller, engine mount, and firewall were damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93116
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285405
- Airframe hours
- 7,924
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-H2AD, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Airman Flight School, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Christiansen Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 17, 1997 · 93 hours before
- Departed
- OUN
- Airport
- OUN · Univ. Of Okla. Westheimer, runway 21, 4,750 × 100 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
- 27
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 22 total · 22 in this make and model · 22 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OUN
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 N93116 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.