- Date
- May 30, 2015, 15:07 local (20:07 UTC)
- Place
- Harlingen, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8126SCessna 150F
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 27, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- San Antonio FSDO FAA
- FAA report
- 20150530007619A
- Case key
- 91297
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 failure to maintain directional control while landing with a crosswind.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the student pilot, he was practicing touch and go landings on his fifth solo flight. Two landings were completed on a runway with a direct headwind, but on the third landing air traffic control instructed him to land on an adjacent runway with a crosswind. The student pilot reported that he touched down with an appropriate crosswind technique, but during the landing roll the airplane began swerving to the left and he lost directional control. Subsequently, the nose gear collapsed on the runway and the airplane came to rest upright on its nose and right wing. The reported winds at the airport about the time of the accident were from 110 degrees true at 16 knots, and the runway heading was 170 degrees. The student pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and firewall.
Factual narrative
According to the student pilot, he was practicing touch and go landings on his fifth solo flight. Two landings were completed on a runway with a direct headwind, but on the third landing air traffic control instructed him to land on an adjacent runway with a crosswind. The student pilot reported that he touched down with an appropriate crosswind technique, but during the landing roll the airplane began swerving to the left and he lost directional control. Subsequently, the nose gear collapsed on the runway and the airplane came to rest upright on its nose and right wing. The reported winds at the airport about the time of the accident were from 110 degrees true at 16 knots, and the runway heading was 170 degrees. The student pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and firewall.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8126S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F (F)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15061726
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 3,720
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-200 SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 3, 2015
- Departed
- HRL · Harlingen, TX
- Destination
- HRL · Harlingen, TX
- Airport
- HRL · Valley Intl, runway 17L, 5,949 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 18
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 31 total · 30 in this make and model · 5 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KHRL
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 8, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.7 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.