- Date
- December 1, 1998, 12:03 local (18:03 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Worth, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4755BCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 6, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981201032369A
- Case key
- 45379
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 loss of directional control due to improper use of the rudder. A factor was the hilly terrain beyond the departure end of the runway.
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 the full stop landing, the airplane exited the runway and traveled down an incline before coming to rest. The student pilot, sole occupant, reported that this was his second solo flight and that he applied the wrong rudder during the landing roll.
Factual narrative
On December 1, 1998, at 1203 central standard time, a Cessna 152 airplane, N4755B, sustained substantial damage when it impacted terrain during the landing roll on runway 16R at the Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, Fort Worth, Texas. The airplane was owned by a private individual and operated by Aer Mistral, Fort Worth, Texas, under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot, sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the local solo instructional flight which departed the airport approximately 1130.
The 25 hour student pilot reported to the FAA inspector that this flight was his second solo flight in the aircraft. He had practiced pattern work at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport and returned to the Meacham Airport. During the full stop landing at Meacham, he performed a "normal landing and then applied the wrong rudder." The airplane exited the right side of the runway and traveled down an incline before coming to rest.
The FAA inspector found the nose gear trunion and the engine mount bent. The operator reported that the lower left portion of the engine mount was bent 25 to 30 degrees.
A review of the air traffic data by the investigator-in-charge revealed that the inbound flight requested a full stop landing at the Meacham Airport. Following a landing clearance for runway 16L, the pilot performed a go-around. Subsequently, the tower controller reissued the clearance for runway 16L and requested that the pilot execute a short approach to the runway. The pilot requested and was approved to extend the left downwind pattern; however, due to other landing traffic, the controller changed the landing runway to 16R. The pilot performed a go-around from runway 16R, and the controller issued a clearance for a right downwind pattern to runway 16R. During the landing roll, the airplane exited runway 16R and traveled down a hill before stopping.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4755B
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15283618
- Airframe hours
- 9,348
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Marco Caruso, doing business as Aer Mistral
- Registered owner
- Ashish Coswami
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 18, 1998 · 49 hours before
- Departed
- FTW
- Airport
- FTW · Fort Worth Meacham, runway 16R, 4,000 × 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
- 19
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 25 total · 25 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FTW
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 N4755B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.